Shreveport SWEPCO employee diagnosed with COVID-19

The latest development on COVID-19 in the Shreveport-Bossier area is that an employee at SWEPCO’s downtown Shreveport office has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and is quarantined. 

A statement from SWEPCO on Thursday reads:

"Our employees’ safety and health is our top priority as we serve our customers during this outbreak. Most downtown employees are working from home until further notice. We are coordinating with local and national health officials as we work to identify the employee’s close work contacts and provide specific guidance to those individuals.SWEPCO and our parent company American Electric Power have been monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and taking action steps such as cleaning work areas, restricting business travel and meetings, and limiting visitors to AEP facilities. We are following CDC guidance in consultation with our company doctors and providing information to employees."

Late on March 11, CHRISTUS Highland Medical Center in Shreveport received a presumptive positive result for a patient with COVID-19. Out of respect for the patient and in following HIPAA guidelines, information is limited.

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A statement from CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier reads: "We can say that we followed the CDC’s guidelines at all times, as well as the guidance we received from the Caddo Parish Health Department. We are firmly convinced that it was the diligence of our clinical caregivers and the excellent care they provided that helped identify this patient. Importantly, all CHRISTUS Associates utilized the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and isolated this patient to protect our patients, associates and community. Per CDC guidelines, the patient has been treated and released to home isolation."

Kelly Zimmerman, press secretary for the Louisiana Dept. of Health, said Thursday, the health department staff will talk to the patient to find out what they did before symptoms and what they did after in order to find out who the patient was in close contact with.

"We will then reach out to those people and make recommendations based on what the patient tells us. We will make updates on our website at 9:30 a.m. and again at 4:30 p.m.,'' Zimmerman said.

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"With Gov. John Bel-Edwards’ declaration of a public health emergency in Louisiana, CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier Health System wants to assure the people of Shreveport-Bossier who trust in us for their health care, we are prepared and stand ready to care for our community. Alongside the north Louisiana health care community, we are united in our commitment to responding to the needs of all patients safely and effectively.''

You can go to ldh.la.gov/coronavirus for those updates.

Check back for more on this developing story.