MercyMed of Columbus releases results of more than 1,200 coronavirus tests
After testing more than 1,200 Columbus area residents for the coronavirus over four days this month, MercyMed released the results Monday.
15% of participants, or 186 out of 1,243, tested positive for COVID-19 during the April 3-6 event in the parking lot of Cascade Hills Church.
Here are the number of residents who were diagnosed from the mass testing broken down by county:
- Muscogee: 95 out of 685
- Harris: 19 out of 123
- Others in Georgia: 15 out of 112
- Lee or Russell: 48 out of 283
- Others in Alabama: 8 out of 36
- Other states: 1 out of 4.
In its Facebook post along with the results, MercyMed thanked the community partners who helped conduct the testing.
“We took on this endeavor in order to screen and test residents for COVID-19 to decrease the risk of continual community transmission, improve quarantining measures, protect others in the community from those who test positive, and decrease the burden on local hospitals by slowing transmission,” MercyMed wrote. “We believe the results of the mass testing event reinforce the importance of social distancing, and compliance with guidance from CDC to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.”
The Ledger-Enquirer reported last week that MercyMed opened an outpatient facility in its clinic to treat those who were diagnosed from its mass testing and to help keep them from being hospitalized. For the asymptomatic patients, MercyMed is monitoring them with daily phone calls.
Georgia Department of Public Health statistics indicate MercyMed’s mass testing contributed to Muscogee County’s number of reported coronavirus cases nearly doubling in seven hours April 8, from 56 at noon to 94 at 7 p.m. That number increased to 161, with four deaths, by noon Monday.
Here’s how MercyMed’s 15% rate of positive tests compares to the state data: DPH reported as of noon Monday a rate of 24% (12,593 out of 53,271) from commercial labs and 19% from public health labs.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 2:22 PM.
