At least three people at a Tunica County nursing home have tested positive for the coronavirus, and one of them has died, according to Tunica Mayor Chuck Cariker.
State health officials and the county's COVID-19 Task Force earlier this week said a woman between 75 and 80 had died at a long-term care facility on March 21. The woman's body was sent to a funeral home and a later test found she was positive. The test was conducted as a precaution after the woman died because another person at the facility had tested positive a day earlier, a task force statement said.
Cariker said there had been at least two cases — in addition to the woman who died — at Tunica County Health and Rehab, also called Tunica nursing home. The facility is just outside the North Mississippi town of about 1,000.
"Tunica nursing home is a great facility, and they take a lot of pride in their patient care," Cariker said. Since the first reported case about a week ago, "they have been on lockdown, or restricting visitors and family members."
Nursing home officials directed questions about the cases and their response to the Mississippi Health Care Association. MSHCA officials declined to answer any specific questions about the situation, including the number of confirmed cases, the number of residents in the nursing home and what types of precautions were being taken inside the home.
