DANVILLE, Va. – A nurse at Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Danville has died of COVID-19. Hers marks the first death of an employee at Virginia’s behavioral health institutions from coronavirus outbreaks.

The nurse, identified by the Danville Register and Bee as 60-year-old Deborah Patterson, died on Saturday, according to a statement from the hospital. SMHI said in a statement that “it is not yet known where the employee was exposed to the virus.” “Our hearts go out to this person’s family and co-workers during this difficult time,” the hospital said in the statement.

The death comes a month after Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute mistakenly advised employees that they would have to continue to work if they tested positive for COVID-19 as long as they didn’t show symptoms.

State health officials quickly disavowed the advisory, and one official says no one who tested positive ever worked at the local hospital. SVMHI reversed the policy less than two weeks later.