St. George Man Diagnosed With Coronavirus Outside Utah Being Treated In Murray

MURRAY, Utah – Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have requested that Intermountain Healthcare provide care for St. George resident Mark Jorgensen, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 outside the state of Utah.

Jorgensen will be treated in a special, self-contained unit at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray that was designed for high-level isolation. Authorities said the Emergency Preparedness Unit has its own entrances and water and air filtration systems that are independent of the main hospital.

“Caring for this patient in this setting is not a public health threat,” officials said in a statement. “Intermountain will continue to work closely with the CDC and Utah Department of Health to address this issue and take every precaution to keep the patient, our caregivers, and the community safe.

“Intermountain’s highly-trained nurses and physicians in this unit will care for the individual until all tests are negative for COVID-19. Care will be provided in alignment with CDC guidance.”

Dr. Todd Vento, associate medical director of Intermountain Healthcare teleservices, said Jorgensen requested to be closer to home for his treatment.

Jorgensen and his wife, Jerri Jorgensen, were two of the over-3,000 people quarantined on a Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan after dozens tested positive for the coronavirus.

Tooele couple John and Melanie Haering were also onboard the ship. John Haering and Jerri Jorgensen tested positive for the virus in Japan while Melanie Haering and Mark Jorgensen returned to the United States on Feb. 15.

Mark Jorgensen tested positive for the virus at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, and was quarantined in Sacramento.

Jorgensen was then transported from the base to Utah via a dedicated flight and transported to the Intermountain Medical Center by ground ambulance with a team trained to treat infectious diseases, Vento said.

Vento said Jorgensen had not shown any symptoms since arriving in Utah Friday evening and he “felt perfectly fine.”

Jerri Jorgensen had her first negative test since she was diagnosed with the virus in Japan.

She will need two-consecutive negative tests before being released and transported back to Utah, Vento said.

Dr. Angela Dunn, Utah state epidemiologist, said the consecutive, negative tests need to be 24 hours apart.

Earlier in the conference, Dunn said the risk to Utahns remains low and the state is fortunate to have great health care systems.

She said 11 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Utah and all have been negative. Four tests are pending and results should return in the new few days.

Dunn said officials will be able to begin testing for the virus at the Utah State Public Health Lab, reducing the waiting period from three days to 24 hours.

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