Putnam’s Signature Health Care Reports 44 Cases

28 patients and 16 staff members at Putnam County’s Signature Health Care have tested positive for COVID-19.

Administrator Lee Rooney said every staff member and patient in the Dry Valley Road facility were tested Tuesday after two people developed symptoms. 95 percent of the 320 employees and patients showed no symptoms.

“We are taking our residents are patients that are COVID positive and we’re actually putting them in one special unit,” Rooney said. “We’re going to have a separate entrance. We’re going to have a segregated staff that’s going to only take care of those patients. So that way they’re not intermingling with anybody else.”

Rooney said none of the 28 patients show any fever over 100 degrees. 90 percent of the 44 COVID-19 patients and employees are symptom free.

“Just because you test positive doesn’t necessarily mean anything negative,” Rooney said. “They’re actually doing fine. You wouldn’t even know that they were positive. And that’s what’s scary about this right now. Staff and the residents aren’t feeling sick. So we just need to be extra careful.”

Tennessee Health Department Commissioner Lisa Piercey said Thursday that symptom-free positives seems to be a growing trend across the United States and the world.

Signature Health Care stopped all visitors in the facility March 9. Rooney said the facility began screening every employee during every shift. Rooney said one case developed after that date. Two other people began showing symptoms. One tested positive. One tested negative. From there, Rooney said he requested the thorough testing.

“We pride ourselves in taking care of the sickest of the sick, the most frail,” Rooney said. “And so those that enter my building, we obviously take great pains. We try to eliminate as many risks as we possibly can.”