UPDATE: The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities released a statement Friday afternoon saying Georgia Regional Hospital-Atlanta is testing new patients for COVID-19 and has established an “isolation unit” for those who have tested positive for the disease. All employees, delivery drivers and others are screened at the front gate, where their temperatures are taken, and staff members are required to wear masks at the hospital, the agency said.
A patient at a state hospital in DeKalb County that provides mental health care has died from the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to new data released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
The agency did not identify the Georgia Regional Hospital-Atlanta patient or say when and where that person died, citing privacy laws.
The hospital treats developmentally disabled patients, adults with a variety of psychiatric diagnoses and people the courts have deemed incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity. Nine of its patients and 25 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
Last week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported two employees who worked at Central State Hospital — the state's maximum-security forensic hospital in Milledgeville – died from the disease. In all, 66 of the hospital's employees and 20 patients have tested positive for the disease.
Three employees each at East Central Regional Hospital Augusta and West Central Georgia Regional Hospital Columbus have also tested positive for COVID-19.
