The Leaf-Chronicle

A dependent of a military retiree at Fort Campbell has tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first confirmed case for the virus at the installation.

The individual, who has not been named, is currently isolated at home, located off the installation, according to a news release.

Fort Campbell officials and Blanchfield Army Community Hospital workers have made sure the person is medically cared for and immediately began contact tracing to determine whether anyone else may have been exposed.

If anyone is determined to be at risk, they will be directly notified, the release said.

Officials are coordinating with civilian authorities in the surrounding area to determine any potential risk of exposure off the installation.

At the latest count released by the Tennessee Department of Health on Wednesday, there are six confirmed cases of coronavirus in Clarksville.

Precautions at BACH

To help prevent the spread of coronavirus while doing testing, BACH has established a drive-up clinic outside the hospital for patients with appointments and referred by the Nurse Advice Line or BACH’s Appointment Line.

Once a test for COVID-19 is administered, it is sent out for processing and patients with mild symptoms are advised to self-quarantine at home while awaiting test results.

The hospital has been cancelling and postponing non-urgent outpatient appointments.

“By rescheduling routine appointments, we will decrease the amount of traffic through our medical services and reduce exposure of patients exhibiting COVID-19 or other disease symptoms to our beneficiaries,” said Col. Patrick T. Birchfield, hospital commander, in the release. “This will also allow our healthcare team time to care for urgent medical needs and make preparations to care for potential COVID-19 patients.”

BACH is moving regular primary care appointments from the hospital to the outlying Byrd and Screaming Eagle Medical Homes beginning Friday, March 27.

Other measures the hospital has taken include:

Making pharmacy services pickup and drop-off only.

Requiring patients and staff to answer a short medical screening and use hand sanitizer before entering.

Changing the visitor policy to reduce the number of people coming through the hospital.

“This is not a decision made lightly. While we understand the importance of family support during hospitalization, preventing or limiting the number of visitors reduces the risk of spreading the coronavirus. This requires us to temporarily adjust our visiting policy in order to keep our patients and visitors safe from infection,” said Birchfield.

Note: All of The Leaf-Chronicle's coverage of the coronavirus is being provided free to our readers. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing at TheLeafChronicle.com/subscribe.