Sarasota Hospital says protocols, planning helped minimize Covid-19 patient contact

SARASOTA, Fla. - Plans that were put into place months ago are now being put to use at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. 

"We spent many weeks preparing for a potential patient that was positive," said Dr.James Fiorica. 

Thursday night, a presumptive positive came back from the lab. That patient, a 70-year-old man, is a seasonal resident of Sarasota from Massachusetts. Sarasota Memorial Hospital's Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Fiorica said the man's family was notified along with staff members. 

"Our system worked very, very well. There were minimal to no changes that occurred and there was little to minimal disruption to that floor," he said. 

Sixteen hospital employees are now self-quarantined. Sarasota Memorial Hospital believes they'll be able to lift the quarantine as soon as their contact with the patient is reviewed. 

This happened as the health department tries to track down where their patient was and with whom he had contact.

"We are still in the middle of that investigation. We believe that individual is a part-year resident so we are still tracking all that information down," said Sarasota County Health Department Officer Chuck Henry. 

To control the spread, the hospital has set up a makeshift waiting area for those with respiratory problems. Patients can be transferred to an isolation room as staff works to rule out a number of viruses before testing for Covid-19. 

"It is something we should pay attention too and we have been working really hard in the public health world to do case containment, meaning identify cases, identifying those contacts, making sure we’re taking protective measures to stop the spread," said Henry. 

The Florida Department of Health reported two "presumptive positive" cases of Covid-19 in Sarasota County, however, the other man is not in Sarasota and hasn't been since December. He's currently isolated in Broward County, but maintains a Sarasota address. 

If you feel sick

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website

CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: What you need to know

RELATED: CoronavirusNOW.com, FOX launches national hub for COVID-19 news and updates.

Map of all known COVID-19 cases

MOBILE APP USERS: Click here for map