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COVID-19 test results not yet complete in La Plata County man’s death

Patient discharged from urgent care before going to Mercy
La Plata County Coroner’s Office is awaiting results of a COVID-19 test performed on a man who died of pneumonia late last week at Mercy Regional Medical Center. The man was discharged previously from an urgent care center, not Mercy Regional Medical Center, as previously reported.

Results of a COVID-19 test performed on a La Plata County man after his death had not been completed as of Thursday, according to the Coroner’s Office.

The man, identified as a local resident in his early 40s, visited a local urgent care center within a week of his death where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and discharged, said Deputy Coroner Cathy Seibel.

Previous information from the Coroner’s Office suggested the man had been discharged from Mercy Regional Medical Center before being re-admitted late last week, when he died.

The man had been in the care of Mercy Regional Medical Center for at least an hour before he died, Seibel said.

La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith declined to provide further identifying information, citing the unknown results of the COVID-19 test and privacy for the family of the deceased.

Smith was unsure what precautions, if any, are being taken to notify people and self-quarantine those who had been around the man before his death.

bhauff@durangoherald.com



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