Hospitals plan for potential outbreak
County health officer: Exposure risk is ‘probably still low’
Health officials are readying for future cases of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, to make sure any patients showing symptoms are isolated and that health care workers aren’t exposed to the illness.
St. Joseph Hospital’s chief executive said Humboldt County’s hospitals are fully trained in the event that a new coronavirus patient needs to be isolated for treatment. The hospital has “negative air flow” rooms and other mechanisms for keeping patients in secure areas, while nurses are trained to wear protective gear like masks and gloves to prevent from being exposed to the virus themselves.
As the number of confirmed positive tests in California rose to 43 by Monday morning, Dr. Teresa Frankovich, the county’s public health officer, said it is becoming more likely the illness will spread to Humboldt County.
“Over time, it’s very likely the virus will circulate in our community,” Frankovich said Monday. “But one person’s exposure risk is
probably still low.”
In the event that a person (especially one with a recent travel history) begins experiencing symptoms of the virus — including fever, as well as respiratory tract infection symptoms, like coughing — officials ask that the person call the emergency room ahead of time instead of simply showing up to the hospital.
That way, the hospital can plan ahead to isolate the patient to a separate room and equip its medical staff with the necessary protective gear.
Not all patients of the new virus will need to remain at the hospital. Since the symptoms are similar to the flu, officials expect to be able to send some patients home to recover in isolation.
“For someone who doesn’t call ahead, we have a lot of signage outside our doors to let them know to put on a mask immediately,” said Roberta Luskin-Hawk, chief executive of St. Joseph. “We also have a standard travel screening form for patients to fill out… health care workers have been trained on all these policies and procedures.”
The county’s one confirmed case, a man, was released from isolation late last week after meeting all conditions for clearance. A woman living with him tested “indeterminate”
for the virus after showing symptoms. So far, they are the only two people in Humboldt County who have had to isolate themselves.
Importantly, the two individuals had recently traveled to mainland China, putting themselves at risk of exposure. The county has yet to have a “community transmission” case, or a local resident who contracted the illness after close contact with another county resident.
“In the absence of (a community transmission), basically, without a significant exposure risk, most patients would be evaluated as they would if it was a possible flu case,” Frankovich said. “There has been a broadening of the testing criteria.”
In response to more cases of the illness being reported throughout the state over the past week, the California Department of Public Health announced Monday it will ramp up efforts to combat the illness, including by bringing more testing kits into the state.
Frankovich said the county is preparing extensively for COVID-19, but that the approach would quickly change if community transmissions of the virus suddenly became apparent.
“In the long haul, it’s not going to be feasible to manage patients in the same way if there are large numbers of them,” Frankovich said.
One thing the county could do with a small number of community-transmission patients is initiate a “contact trace,” or investigate areas where the patients might have exposed others to the virus. But at the point of many cases, tracking one individual’s activity won’t be very helpful, Frankovich said.
Unionized nurses at St. Joseph, who have been vocal over the past two years in criticizing the hospital’s staffing levels, find news of the new virus “very worrisome,” registered nurse Lesley Ester said Monday.
Specifically, Ester said the hospital should model its latest training efforts after its response to the Ebola outbreak that briefly flared up in the United States in 2014. Once hospital management and nurses are on the same page, Ester said, she and others will feel more comfortable approaching a possible outbreak.
“It’s an everyday conversation for us,” she said.
Luskin-Hawk, meanwhile, said the hospital’s staffing levels are stable.
“All health care workers have their professional side where they’re confident in their training,” Luskin-Hawk said, “and they’ve got their emotional side, where they might feel uncomfortable… Hospitals around the country are planning (for the coronavirus); while the situation is evolving, people are working around-the- clock collaboratively.”