Ballad Health reports first COVID-19 related death
Published 1:29 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Ballad Health officials on Tuesday announced the first COVID-19-related death within the health system.
Ballad Health Director of Infection Prevention Jamie Swift said the first death of a Ballad patient will be reported to the health department. “We express our deepest sympathies to the family. We’ll continue seeing this as cases increase. Our governor’s and mayors’ order to stay at home must be taken seriously,” said Swift.
Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine said the patient was a man in his 70s with multiple pre-existing conditions but would not specify where the patient was from.
Levine said a family member was able to enter the facility to be with the patient before the patient’s death.
Levine called the COVID death tragic, saying that it’s hard for family and the Ballad team members. “We were able to get a family member with this person during their final moments,” he reported.
As of Tuesday morning, 1,830 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed by public health officials in Tennessee. There have been 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities region with 45 cases in Northeast Tennessee and six cases in Southwest Virginia.
Additionally, 13 deaths have been reported in the state.
As of Tuesday, tests had been completed on 23,404 people and 138 people have been hospitalized.
Carter County, thus far, has had only one COVID-19 case reported; Johnson County, two.
