Coronavirus Turns Our World Upside Down
By Doug La Rocque
As of press time, Rensselaer County’s Department of Health (RCDOH) has reported three cases of the disease, those being a 35-year old Troy man who developed symptoms on Saturday and was tested and self-quarantined, and two Brunswick residents, details on which have not yet been released. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin has declared a state of emergency, and as everyone knows by now, schools, bars and restaurants, most town and village offices, libraries and some private businesses are closed or limiting their operations. Throughout this edition of the Eastwick Press are announcements of the many closures.
This pandemic has caused some hysteria, with items like paper products, cleaning and sanitizing supplies and bottled water in very short supply or sold out in stores. Many other staples of everyday life have also been impacted. In some stores, fights over these products have been reported. The County Executive and health officials are urging people to remain calm. This is a new virus, apparently similar to the 2003 SARS outbreak, but with some important differences. Because of this, there is no vaccine, and immunity to the disease virtually does not exist. That said, according to most medical reports, over 80 percent of the people who contract the disease will recover, and suffer only mild symptoms.
The most vulnerable are the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Since the disease is spread by close contact and air droplets expelled when a person coughs or sneezes, separation from others as well as elevated hand washing and other sanitary measures are the best ways to slow the spread of the virus.
A Strain On Hospitals
We have all heard Governors Cuomo, Scott and Baker express their concern about the number of hospital beds and Intensive Care Unit beds that will be needed until the illness peaks (which is anybody’s guess). In all New York, Vermont and Massachusetts, those anticipated numbers exceed what is currently available.
One of the primary care facilities in our area is Southwest Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. President and CEO Thomas Dee has sent The Eastwick Press the following statement:
The health and safety of the patients, caregivers and communities we serve is our most important priority. Our hospital and community health centers remain open and safe, and there has been no disruption to the high-quality patient care that we provide.
Beginning in mid-January, Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) took a proactive and measured approach for planning for the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19, by holding daily multidisciplinary meetings. When confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States escalated, we immediately implemented appropriate response protocols. When SVHC admitted Vermont’s first presumptive positive patient on March 5, our clinicians were prepared.
Prior to this patient’s diagnosis, our health system was working collaboratively and in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Vermont Department of Health as well as our region’s first responders. SVHC has taken every precaution to ensure that we continue to provide all patients, including those with possible COVID-19, with the highest quality care while protecting hospital staff, other patients and visitors. Several proactive initiatives underway across our health system, include:
• Updating our Emergency Department screening protocols to rapidly detect patients with possible COVID-19.
• Redesigning our main entrance to include a respiratory screening check-in station, where patients and visitors are issued a mask if they have a cough.
• Implementing drive-up testing for patients that have a medical order from their primary care provider. The service allows patients to remain in their cars while registered nurses wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) swab their nose. Patients need to practice self-isolation until results are known, which typically arrive to the primary care provider within 96 hours.
• Increasing the number of rooms with negative pressure capacity, which controls ventilation through containment of potentially infectious matter and is a key factor in assuring we can meet the needs of the community.
• Developing a COVID-19 Informational Hotline (802-440-8844) that is available 24/7 and staffed Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, including clinical triage.
• Strictly enforcing our Flu Visitation Policy which restricts visitors from the hospital if they have symptoms of infectious disease (respiratory or gastrointestinal). Additionally, visitors are limited to those who are over the age of 18 and patients are not permitted to have more than two visitors at a time.
• Regularly updating providers about the status of the outbreak and our evolving understanding of the epidemiology of this disease.
• Implementing a robust training program on the appropriate use of personal protective equipment.
• Planning for the potential influx of a large number of COVID-19 patients for ensuing months.
As this situation continues to evolve, we remain committed to providing the latest information to our patients, employees, and the public. We are in continuous communication with state and national officials to gather the most up-to-date information; we are issuing daily updates to all personnel within the SVHC system; and we are providing regular updates to the public.
We are focusing on what we can control: screening patients; training and educating our caregivers; making sure hospital processes are in place; and educating the public to practice hand hygiene, covering your coughs and sneezes, avoiding close contact, and clean and disinfect. If you have COVID-19 symptoms, or have come into contact with someone that has COVID-19, contact your primary care provider. Following CDC and infectious disease physician recommendations, we are asking those without severe symptoms to avoid the Emergency Department. This will allow the doctors and nurses to focus attention on those most sick and in need of hospitalization. In an abundance of caution for our community and caregivers, we are postponing all events and/or suspending all caregiver participation at events effective immediately for the immediate future, and actively practicing social distancing.
Please visit svhealthcare.org for the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 as well as links to the CDC’s and Department of Health resources and phone numbers. Because this is a novel virus, we expect the situation to evolve.
Troy’s Samaritan Hospital has incorporated many of the same precautionary measures, as has Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. BMC has reported a staffing problem they are dealing with, as approximately 160 employees are currently in self quarantine because of exposure. The hospital has hired over 50 temporary nurses to help make up the difference.
Berkshire County is the hardest hit area in the Baystate outside of Boston, with 14 reported cases.
The Eastwick Press will endeavor to keep everyone updated as more information from health and government officials is released to us. The most timely fashion (since we are a weekly paper) will be on our Facebook page as well as in print.