5 Months Into Pandemic, Nurse Says County Has Been ‘Lucky’
August 20, 2020 at 2:09 a.m.
5 Months Into Pandemic, Nurse Says County Has Been ‘Lucky’
By David [email protected]
“One of the (pieces of) good news I want to emphasize today, this is not the pandemic I was afraid of in March,” she said during the now-biweekly press conference on the pandemic at Warsaw City Hall. “When we train on pandemics, one of the things that we look for is how it happens in waves. Now, I think we definitely flattened our wave. We didn’t want to see that huge hump that would crash our infrastructure, but now what we’ve got is – thank heavens our death rate is only 12 – I was afraid we would have hundreds in two months. I was afraid of 25% of our population being sick in a two-month time span; 20,000 cases compared to our under 1,000 cases is just so much more manageable. We’re very lucky and very thankful that this is not as severe as what it could have been.”
She said compared to the 1918 influenza pandemic, “we’re just very lucky here.”
As of Wednesday, Reed said Kosciusko had 888 cases since March, giving it a 1.1% positivity rate.
“So 1.1% of our population has been diagnosed with COVID at one point over the last few months, so that’s still a nice low number overall. It’s a lot less than what I was afraid this was going to be when it started back in March,” she said.
Four weeks ago, she said there were 97 new cases, 60 three weeks ago, 32 two weeks ago and then 34 and she liked the way those numbers were trending. County residents have taken 9,884 tests, according to the Indiana State Department of Health website.
“So that means, right now, we’re still running 94 of a 100 people are coming back with a negative test when they’re tested. I’m pleased with that,” Reed said.
As for the positivity number, “While we have testing available, nobody has to go without testing, without that being quite as easy as a drive-through, we’ll see that positivity go up a little and that’s just because people aren’t testing as much for curiosity. So we’ll want to watch that. Positivity can tell us if something is going wrong,” she said.
Kosciusko County has 1,117 cases per 100,000 people. Comparing that to other nearby counties, Reed said Marshall County, with half of Kosciusko’s population, has a case rate of 1,700 per 100,000. Elkhart has 2,500 per 100,000 and Noble has 1,500 per 100,000. Whitley and Wabash have 500 and 596 respectively.
Mayor Joe Thallemer reiterated that the ISDH testing site in Warsaw has gone away at least for now. “We’re now relying on our local CARES Act-funded testing sites,” he said, which includes the three MedStat locations and Parkview Warsaw.
Through Aug. 18, MedStat has performed just under 500 CARES Act tests. MedStat is open seven days a week for testing, and people can register online at medstatonline.com. Testing is for ages 2 and older.
Parkview began offering CARES Act-funded testing Monday. To schedule a COVID-19 test, call 574-372-0030. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The city and county combined CARES Act dollars to provide up to 2,000 tests for Kosciusko County residents. Testing is free for those without insurance.
With local schools reopening, Reed said her office’s mission for the month is “to try to do everything that we can as the local health department to support the schools to stay open as long as that’s safe and to help determine whether that’s safe.”
She said right now, there are some cases involved in the schools, but none of those cases look like they obtained the virus at school. “So that’s one of the things that we’re going to watch for: Are we having transmission happening inside the schools, or are our cases getting infected because their parents have it and so they came down with it; or if they attended a social event that seems to be a common factor in several people getting sick?”
In Kosciusko County, Reed said they are going to track, in the school-related cases, how severe the illness is. They’ll want to know how many cases are asymptomatic, very mild, mild, moderate and severe (which requires hospitalization).
“When we get that data and we can put it out, we’ll make sure the definitions are included so that everyone can understand what we’re looking for and what the severity ratings are because we think that’s needed to have a picture of whether or not schools are safe to remain open or if we need to close areas in schools,” Reed said.
Transmissions in schools will be one of the health department’s markers. She said they’ll make decisions on a case-by-case basis to be safe but with the least distractions.
Thallemer asked Reed what is a parent to do if a child has symptoms but tests negative.
“If they’re symptomatic and receive a negative test, unless the doctor has an alternative diagnosis, they’re out of school for 10 days. That’s just the way it has to be right now. I know it’s frustrating to parents who have this child who may not be very ill, but they have to stay out for everyone’s safety at this point. And that generally applies to everyone: If you have symptoms of COVID, it’s expected that if you’re not able to have an alternative diagnosis, that you’re to remain home and isolate for 10 days, even if your test is negative,” Reed said.
She admitted that this is going to be a “rough” school year.
With the influenza season around the corner, Thallemer asked if there would be a rush this year to get the flu vaccine.
Medstat and Wellness Center Director Tina Fugate said she feels that there will definitely be more people, especially parents, wanting to get vaccinated.
“And I feel it’s important,” she said. “I’ve received the flu vaccine for many years personally, and, I do, I think it’s important and it really does help.”
Even if the flu vaccine is “not 100%,” Fugate said it does help reduce symptoms and protect people.
“I would strongly recommend it,” she said.
To schedule an appointment to get a flu vaccine at the Kosciusko County Shot Clinic, call 372-3515, Reed said.
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“One of the (pieces of) good news I want to emphasize today, this is not the pandemic I was afraid of in March,” she said during the now-biweekly press conference on the pandemic at Warsaw City Hall. “When we train on pandemics, one of the things that we look for is how it happens in waves. Now, I think we definitely flattened our wave. We didn’t want to see that huge hump that would crash our infrastructure, but now what we’ve got is – thank heavens our death rate is only 12 – I was afraid we would have hundreds in two months. I was afraid of 25% of our population being sick in a two-month time span; 20,000 cases compared to our under 1,000 cases is just so much more manageable. We’re very lucky and very thankful that this is not as severe as what it could have been.”
She said compared to the 1918 influenza pandemic, “we’re just very lucky here.”
As of Wednesday, Reed said Kosciusko had 888 cases since March, giving it a 1.1% positivity rate.
“So 1.1% of our population has been diagnosed with COVID at one point over the last few months, so that’s still a nice low number overall. It’s a lot less than what I was afraid this was going to be when it started back in March,” she said.
Four weeks ago, she said there were 97 new cases, 60 three weeks ago, 32 two weeks ago and then 34 and she liked the way those numbers were trending. County residents have taken 9,884 tests, according to the Indiana State Department of Health website.
“So that means, right now, we’re still running 94 of a 100 people are coming back with a negative test when they’re tested. I’m pleased with that,” Reed said.
As for the positivity number, “While we have testing available, nobody has to go without testing, without that being quite as easy as a drive-through, we’ll see that positivity go up a little and that’s just because people aren’t testing as much for curiosity. So we’ll want to watch that. Positivity can tell us if something is going wrong,” she said.
Kosciusko County has 1,117 cases per 100,000 people. Comparing that to other nearby counties, Reed said Marshall County, with half of Kosciusko’s population, has a case rate of 1,700 per 100,000. Elkhart has 2,500 per 100,000 and Noble has 1,500 per 100,000. Whitley and Wabash have 500 and 596 respectively.
Mayor Joe Thallemer reiterated that the ISDH testing site in Warsaw has gone away at least for now. “We’re now relying on our local CARES Act-funded testing sites,” he said, which includes the three MedStat locations and Parkview Warsaw.
Through Aug. 18, MedStat has performed just under 500 CARES Act tests. MedStat is open seven days a week for testing, and people can register online at medstatonline.com. Testing is for ages 2 and older.
Parkview began offering CARES Act-funded testing Monday. To schedule a COVID-19 test, call 574-372-0030. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The city and county combined CARES Act dollars to provide up to 2,000 tests for Kosciusko County residents. Testing is free for those without insurance.
With local schools reopening, Reed said her office’s mission for the month is “to try to do everything that we can as the local health department to support the schools to stay open as long as that’s safe and to help determine whether that’s safe.”
She said right now, there are some cases involved in the schools, but none of those cases look like they obtained the virus at school. “So that’s one of the things that we’re going to watch for: Are we having transmission happening inside the schools, or are our cases getting infected because their parents have it and so they came down with it; or if they attended a social event that seems to be a common factor in several people getting sick?”
In Kosciusko County, Reed said they are going to track, in the school-related cases, how severe the illness is. They’ll want to know how many cases are asymptomatic, very mild, mild, moderate and severe (which requires hospitalization).
“When we get that data and we can put it out, we’ll make sure the definitions are included so that everyone can understand what we’re looking for and what the severity ratings are because we think that’s needed to have a picture of whether or not schools are safe to remain open or if we need to close areas in schools,” Reed said.
Transmissions in schools will be one of the health department’s markers. She said they’ll make decisions on a case-by-case basis to be safe but with the least distractions.
Thallemer asked Reed what is a parent to do if a child has symptoms but tests negative.
“If they’re symptomatic and receive a negative test, unless the doctor has an alternative diagnosis, they’re out of school for 10 days. That’s just the way it has to be right now. I know it’s frustrating to parents who have this child who may not be very ill, but they have to stay out for everyone’s safety at this point. And that generally applies to everyone: If you have symptoms of COVID, it’s expected that if you’re not able to have an alternative diagnosis, that you’re to remain home and isolate for 10 days, even if your test is negative,” Reed said.
She admitted that this is going to be a “rough” school year.
With the influenza season around the corner, Thallemer asked if there would be a rush this year to get the flu vaccine.
Medstat and Wellness Center Director Tina Fugate said she feels that there will definitely be more people, especially parents, wanting to get vaccinated.
“And I feel it’s important,” she said. “I’ve received the flu vaccine for many years personally, and, I do, I think it’s important and it really does help.”
Even if the flu vaccine is “not 100%,” Fugate said it does help reduce symptoms and protect people.
“I would strongly recommend it,” she said.
To schedule an appointment to get a flu vaccine at the Kosciusko County Shot Clinic, call 372-3515, Reed said.
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