9 Coronavirus Cases Confirmed At Edward Hospital In Naperville

NAPERVILLE, IL — As hospitals across the state deal with the influx of new coronavirus cases, Edward Hospital in Naperville has confirmed that it is treating nine COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday afternoon.

In an email, Edward-Elmhurst Health spokesperson Keith Hartenberger said the patients are being kept in airborne isolation rooms. At press time, most inpatient and outpatient visitors were not being permitted into the hospital to help prevent exposure to the virus.

Hartenberger said exceptions are being made that allow some patients to have visitors who are 18 and older. These include visitors for patients who are children and patients who are critically ill or at the end of their lives. For these patients, a care team has been set up to manage the number of visitors at any given time.

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Hartenberger told Patch that Edward Hospital recently set up a triage tent outside of its emergency department to help deal with the needs of potential coronavirus patients. Patients who come to the emergency department's triage desk with symptoms that might be coronavirus are being tested in the triage tent, Hartenberger said, to keep them separate from emergency room patients and staff.

Patients with potential symptoms are given masks, Hartenberger said, and taken to the tent, where they are evaluated and tested if there is a need.

"Edward Hospital has an adequate supply of intensive care and critical care beds to handle the current inpatients being treated for COVID-19," Hartenberger added. "We are well prepared to handle an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients."

He said, "Hospital leaders meet several times a day to discuss the current situation and we have plans in place to address potential surges in the patient population in the coming days and weeks."

Read more: Coronavirus In Illinois: March 24 Update As Cases Hit 1,285