COVID-19 DISCUSSION
Saratoga County officials answer community questions
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Officials from Saratoga County and Saratoga Hospital came together Monday afternoon to answer questions related to coronavirus from the community in an interactive way.
Various health officials from across the county hosted a Facebook live video chat and allowed the public to ask questions via social media.
Saratoga County Director of the Department of Public Health Catherine Duncan was joined along with Saratoga Hospital Chief Medical Officer Richard Falivena, Dr. Brian McDermott from Saratoga Hospital Medical Group - Infectious Disease, and Saratoga County Department of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Prezioso.
As of Monday afternoon, officials confirmed that there are 61 total confirmed positive cases with one person being hospitalized at Saratoga Hospital. There have been no
reported deaths due to COVID-19 within the county.
Duncan said the virus is spread throughout the whole county and giving locations of each case at this point is not something that they are looking to do.
Officials with the county jail, said to date, there have been no inmates or members of the sheriff’s department that have tested positive.
“County staff is working day and night to mitigate the impact of this virus as it spreads,” Duncan said.
Falivena said the hospital has adjusted some of its practices as a way to try to keep patients and staff as safe as possible.
“We’ve instituted mandatory screening before anybody comes into any of our outpatient facilities,” Falivena said. “We’ve eliminated those ‘I’m sick, I’m going to walk in kind of appointments.’
“We’ve reduced traffic through our offices by moving to a lot of tele-visits.”
Falivena added that within the inpatient area of the hospital, they use personal protective equipment such as eye protection, masks, gloves, and gowns and if a patient has a higher risk then the workers will use more PPE.
Like many other local hospitals and areas around the country, Falivena also stressed how testing kits are now in limited supply.
People tuning in to the Facebook live video, which reached over 800 people at times during the nearly hour-long stream, also asked about going out to grocery stores and doing that task safely.
Duncan urged people to wipe down the shopping carts, to bag your own groceries or use self-checkout or to arrange delivery or pickup options with grocery stores that offer those kinds of services.
Another question was related to if people that do not have any symptoms should be wearing masks when out in public.
Falivena urged people who are not sick to not wear masks.
“There is no evidence that a well person wearing a mask decreases the transmission of COVID-19,” he answered. “There is spectacular evidence that sick people wearing masks does decrease [transmission].
The panel also urged that sick people should stay home and stressed the importance of social distancing.
“Every time you come in contact with someone there is a chance that person will pass the infection onto you,” Falivena said.
Prezioso answered a question related to what parents should do to keep children from becoming more anxious while being stuck at home.
“Establish what your new routine will be for your family and for your child,” he said.
To end the online discussion, the health experts tried to urge the public that the country will get through the pandemic together.
“We’re in this together, and it is critically important that everyone adheres to the public health advisories that the county has issued and the guidance and mandates from the state,” Duncan stated.
“This is an incredibly unique and frankly, scary time,” Falivena said. “This is not really something new; we’ve been through pandemics before.”
“We’re going to get through this,” he added.