ST PETER, Minn. — A patient at the campus that houses the Minnesota Security Hospital exhibited COVID-19 symptoms and was hospitalized Wednesday night, the Department of Human Services told KARE 11.
Staff who who may have exposed returned to work and will be screened daily for fever and respiratory symptoms, DHS said.
Other patients in the unit at the security hospital have been restricted to that area until test results are known, according to DHS.
DHS said no other information could be released about the patient to protect the person's privacy.
DHS said that while protective equipment was available to the staff to help the patient, it’s unclear if it was actually used. DHS also did not say how a patient at a secure hospital could have become infected with the virus.
The agency said patient outings were suspended on March 13, and there have been no other suspected COVID-19 cases among other patients.
On March 26, DHS advised staff across all of the programs on the St. Peter campus that an employee was in self-quarantine for 14 days due to a presumed case of COVID-19, the agency said. The employee had not been tested but was advised by a doctor to assume the illness was coronavirus, according to DHS.
The security hospital has a 465 person capacity and treats some of the state’s most mentally ill and dangerous patients.
