Veterans’ retirement home in Mississippi returns to lockdown after 6 fully vaccinated residents test positive for virus
Published 4:30 pm Friday, April 23, 2021
- Illustration of antibodies (red and blue) responding to an infection with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (purple). The virus emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and causes a mild respiratory illness (covid-19) that can develop into pneumonia and be fatal in some cases. The coronaviruses take their name from their crown (corona) of surface proteins, which are used to attach and penetrate their host cells. Once inside the cells, the particles use the cells' machinery to make more copies of the virus. Antibodies bind to specific antigens, for instance viral proteins, marking them for destruction by other immune cells.
The Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport is back under lockdown after six of its fully vaccinated residents have recently tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
WLOX News in Biloxi is reporting that because of a recent outbreak of virus cases, the Gulfport campus has been closed to visitors. The home was closed to visitors in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 because of the pandemic.
According to Armed Forces Retirement Home public affairs officer Christopher Kelly, residents and staff at the facility will be tested for at least the next two weeks.
Residents returning to campus will be required to quarantine. The home will also begin performing contact tracing, providing additional cleaning, to help reduce the spread of the virus.
