A spokesman for the company that operates South Haven Health and Rehabilitation in Hoover said 19 staff members and 17 residents recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Joe Perkins, a spokesman for Northport Health Services, said 13 of the staff members showed no symptoms. They only came to light because the facility chose to test all residents and staff members after two workers fell ill in March.

Perkins said the company has taken an aggressive approach to COVID-19 by implementing broad testing and isolation for infected residents. Early on, they received special permission to test people without symptoms, despite early state policies that restricted the criteria.

As a result, he said patients and staff have fared well. The asymptomatic employees would not have been detected under requirements that limited screening to people with fevers.

“We would have just known about the six people who had symptoms,” Perkins said.

Studies have shown that some people contract COVID-19 and never develop symptoms, unknowingly passing the illness to others. Perkins said the company adopted widespread screening to detect those cases and prevent further spread.

“When this virus gets into a facility, any facility, it’s very tough to get rid of it,” Perkins said.

Residents who have tested positive have been isolated and are receiving extra care, he said.

“All of this looks very promising for the people that have contracted it,” Perkins said.