COVID Cases Surging, Warsaw Schools Doing OK
October 29, 2020 at 4:04 a.m.
COVID Cases Surging, Warsaw Schools Doing OK
By Amanda Bridgman-
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer first discussed Halloween and voting safety tips amid the pandemic.
Trick-or-treaters are reminded to wear a cloth face mask while out and about, because Halloween costumes do not provide protection, he said. Also, anyone who is sick, has symptoms or has been around someone with COVID-19 is asked to sit this holiday out. If folks don’t want trick-or-treaters at their door, simply turn the porch light off.
“Trick-or-treat, stay 6 feet, give me something good to eat,” Thallemer said of a jingle he recently heard.
Thallemer also recommended early voting to citizens, if possible, and said the county is doing everything it can to keep the area sanitized and moving quickly.
Next, County Health Officer Dr. William Remington said Kosciusko is experiencing a real surge of cases that have now exceeded 2,000 and reached 29 deaths. Remington said the weekly average of positive cases is showing 344 cases per 100,000 residents, which is a substantial jump from the old average of around 50-55 per 100,000. Remington said we’re not the only “hot spot”?in the state right now, as places like Evansville and Marion are also seeing surges.
According to numbers from the Kosciusko County Health Department Wednesday, KCHD has received a total of 282 new molecular and antigen cases between noon Oct. 22 and noon Wednesday. Additionally, there were four more COVID-19 deaths, giving the county a cumulative total of 2,102 positive cases, 657 active cases and 29 deaths.
“Our regional hospitals are filling up again with COVID cases,” Remington said, adding that he’s spoken with some of his patients who have been telling grim stories that he hasn’t heard before. “It’s not fake news,” he said.
Remington also urged residents to consider getting the influenza immunization, saying that getting a flu shot can help protect a person from getting more seriously ill and not to mention it will be hard for doctors to sort out what’s COVID and what’s influenza.
Remington said that if a COVID-19 vaccine were to become available before the end of the year, he expects it will get doled out to healthcare workers and first responders before the rest of the population. He also urged the public to trust a vaccine if it does come out and not to be skeptical.
“Trust the science. It’s robust,” he said.
KCHD Communicable Disease Nurse Teresa Reed provided an update on the county’s schools, alongside WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert.
Reed said that between Oct. 12 through Tuesday, 447 schoolchildren and staff are quarantined, with 59 cases. One of those cases is a staff member who is experiencing severe symptoms, Reed said. She also noted that since schools haven’t proven to be an incubator for the virus, it’s getting harder to know where students are picking up the virus because it’s really coming from widespread community transmission.
“We are over 10 weeks into the school year, and we have stayed open,” Hoffert said, saying that has always been WCS’ number one priority.
Hoffert said they expected more numbers to come in, especially after the recent fall break, echoing Reed’s statements that the virus is coming from a student’s home then into the school setting.
Right now, Hoffert applauded his staff and students for the adjustments they’ve all had to make to get through the school day. For example, something that used to just take one step now takes maybe 20, like cleaning a desk or a science kit. WCS has strict cleaning protocols, he said, saying they use electrostatic sprays that are used nightly in each classroom.
Another way WCS is doing its part to stay safe and open is by using those once-a-month Monday eLearning days. Those days are used for three main purposes: one, to do deep cleaning; two, to allow students to stay up on the digital platforms in case there is any need to modify in-person schooling in the future; and three, it helps with contact tracing from over the weekend and allows things to settle down.
“School truly is one of the safest places to be with our mask and stringent standards in place,” Hoffert said.
A big problem going on in the county though is people’s lack of participation in contact tracing, Reed said, estimating nearly 60% of people who have been asked to participate in the county aren’t doing it.
It’s a problem when people are refusing because it increases the spread, Reed said. She said she believes people are purposely not cooperating with the state call center’s contact tracing efforts for three reasons. The first being that some people think the text message asking them to participate is a scam. Reed suggested people who are worried should Google the number and then they will see it’s for real. The second reason she believes people aren’t cooperating is because of the consequences of doing so.
“You will be held to your 10 days out, and they’re going to talk to you about your family members and your household, and they’re going to tell you you’re going to need to quarantine,” Reed said. “People are not cooperating because they don’t want to narc out their family and cause that trouble. It is a hardship right now, and so it’s hard to get people to participate when it punishes you for doing the right thing.”?
The final reason she believes is because of politics and people think it’s an intrusion into their lives so they refuse to participate.
Despite what the federal government’s messaging is, this tricky and ever-changing pandemic isn’t fake and it isn’t going away. Remington said that unless people want to see bodies stacked up in horse carriages like they did in 1918, they should take the virus seriously.
“You don’t want that, and we haven’t had that,” Remington said. “So I think it’s been a robust response ... I don’t think you look retrospectively and point too many fingers, I think you learn as a society and a scientific community and move forward.”
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer first discussed Halloween and voting safety tips amid the pandemic.
Trick-or-treaters are reminded to wear a cloth face mask while out and about, because Halloween costumes do not provide protection, he said. Also, anyone who is sick, has symptoms or has been around someone with COVID-19 is asked to sit this holiday out. If folks don’t want trick-or-treaters at their door, simply turn the porch light off.
“Trick-or-treat, stay 6 feet, give me something good to eat,” Thallemer said of a jingle he recently heard.
Thallemer also recommended early voting to citizens, if possible, and said the county is doing everything it can to keep the area sanitized and moving quickly.
Next, County Health Officer Dr. William Remington said Kosciusko is experiencing a real surge of cases that have now exceeded 2,000 and reached 29 deaths. Remington said the weekly average of positive cases is showing 344 cases per 100,000 residents, which is a substantial jump from the old average of around 50-55 per 100,000. Remington said we’re not the only “hot spot”?in the state right now, as places like Evansville and Marion are also seeing surges.
According to numbers from the Kosciusko County Health Department Wednesday, KCHD has received a total of 282 new molecular and antigen cases between noon Oct. 22 and noon Wednesday. Additionally, there were four more COVID-19 deaths, giving the county a cumulative total of 2,102 positive cases, 657 active cases and 29 deaths.
“Our regional hospitals are filling up again with COVID cases,” Remington said, adding that he’s spoken with some of his patients who have been telling grim stories that he hasn’t heard before. “It’s not fake news,” he said.
Remington also urged residents to consider getting the influenza immunization, saying that getting a flu shot can help protect a person from getting more seriously ill and not to mention it will be hard for doctors to sort out what’s COVID and what’s influenza.
Remington said that if a COVID-19 vaccine were to become available before the end of the year, he expects it will get doled out to healthcare workers and first responders before the rest of the population. He also urged the public to trust a vaccine if it does come out and not to be skeptical.
“Trust the science. It’s robust,” he said.
KCHD Communicable Disease Nurse Teresa Reed provided an update on the county’s schools, alongside WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert.
Reed said that between Oct. 12 through Tuesday, 447 schoolchildren and staff are quarantined, with 59 cases. One of those cases is a staff member who is experiencing severe symptoms, Reed said. She also noted that since schools haven’t proven to be an incubator for the virus, it’s getting harder to know where students are picking up the virus because it’s really coming from widespread community transmission.
“We are over 10 weeks into the school year, and we have stayed open,” Hoffert said, saying that has always been WCS’ number one priority.
Hoffert said they expected more numbers to come in, especially after the recent fall break, echoing Reed’s statements that the virus is coming from a student’s home then into the school setting.
Right now, Hoffert applauded his staff and students for the adjustments they’ve all had to make to get through the school day. For example, something that used to just take one step now takes maybe 20, like cleaning a desk or a science kit. WCS has strict cleaning protocols, he said, saying they use electrostatic sprays that are used nightly in each classroom.
Another way WCS is doing its part to stay safe and open is by using those once-a-month Monday eLearning days. Those days are used for three main purposes: one, to do deep cleaning; two, to allow students to stay up on the digital platforms in case there is any need to modify in-person schooling in the future; and three, it helps with contact tracing from over the weekend and allows things to settle down.
“School truly is one of the safest places to be with our mask and stringent standards in place,” Hoffert said.
A big problem going on in the county though is people’s lack of participation in contact tracing, Reed said, estimating nearly 60% of people who have been asked to participate in the county aren’t doing it.
It’s a problem when people are refusing because it increases the spread, Reed said. She said she believes people are purposely not cooperating with the state call center’s contact tracing efforts for three reasons. The first being that some people think the text message asking them to participate is a scam. Reed suggested people who are worried should Google the number and then they will see it’s for real. The second reason she believes people aren’t cooperating is because of the consequences of doing so.
“You will be held to your 10 days out, and they’re going to talk to you about your family members and your household, and they’re going to tell you you’re going to need to quarantine,” Reed said. “People are not cooperating because they don’t want to narc out their family and cause that trouble. It is a hardship right now, and so it’s hard to get people to participate when it punishes you for doing the right thing.”?
The final reason she believes is because of politics and people think it’s an intrusion into their lives so they refuse to participate.
Despite what the federal government’s messaging is, this tricky and ever-changing pandemic isn’t fake and it isn’t going away. Remington said that unless people want to see bodies stacked up in horse carriages like they did in 1918, they should take the virus seriously.
“You don’t want that, and we haven’t had that,” Remington said. “So I think it’s been a robust response ... I don’t think you look retrospectively and point too many fingers, I think you learn as a society and a scientific community and move forward.”
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