5 cases of coronavirus found at Arlington Masonic retirement center where man died
More than 200 people at the Texas Masonic Retirement Center, where the first Tarrant County resident died from COVID-19, have been tested for coronavirus, health officials say.
Five positive results have come back, Tarrant Public Health Director Vinny Taneja said Tuesday.
One of those was for Patrick James, a resident at the center who thought he had the flu and died March 16.
After James died, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visited Arlington and said tests would be run on all staff and residents at the retirement center.
The county had already tested two people at the center who were found to have coronavirus before the tests Abbott referenced were administered. Two more people tested positive, Taneja said.
Those four cases, plus James, totals five cases at the center, he said.
That number could change, Taneja said, because he’s not sure all the results from the center have come in.
Taneja said he’s not identifying those who tested positive. But he believes two staff members and two residents, in addition to James, tested positive.
Restrictions went into place at the center after James’s death, including limiting visitors and movement in the center. Self-isolation continues at the center until county officials and CDC workers lift the restrictions.
Patrick James, 77, was admitted to Arlington Memorial Hospital on March 10 and was tested for the coronavirus on March 14, his family has said. His family found out March 17 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He had been diagnosed with double pneumonia after being hospitalized.
Testing at the retirement center began March 20 for employees and residents.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
