Fourteen patients have tested negative for coronavirus at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, officials said Thursday.
“All of the 14 results received back to date are negative,” said hospital spokeswoman Kim Savage.
More tests have been sent to a lab in Tampa, and those results are pending, she added.
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The 14 results that came back were from patients who are hospitalized with respiratory illness and have tested negative for other common viruses, such as the flu.
Asked if these patients had come in contact with the Manatee County man in his 60s who has tested positive for COVID-19 but has no history of recent international travel, Savage said: “Not that we are aware of.”
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Sarasota Memorial Hospital said any patients at risk for COVID-19 are placed in isolation rooms, separate from other patients, to prevent cross-contamination.
“I’m comfortable with the fact that if we get a positive result it will be in a patient that is isolated and it won’t make a difference,” said Sarasota Memorial Hospital chief officer James Fiorica.
“We are preparing for a positive patient. We are ecstatic that we don’t have a positive patient.”
