By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Wood County is experiencing the ghost of Halloween coming back to haunt it.
During his remarks at Thursday’s Board of Health meeting, Health Director Ben Robison said the spike in cases experienced in the county is “reflective” of Halloween when people let their guard down.
That’s troubling as Thanksgiving, when people attend or host large gatherings, approaches, followed by Christmas. People need to reconsider how they celebrate.
The new numbers – all bad – have pushed the county into the red zone.
The trigger that moved the county from level orange to level red was the number of people seeking treatment for COVD-19. It was 46 on Nov. 10, up from 18 on Oct. 30.
Just a month ago Thursday’s report of 385 new cases in Wood County would have been the second highest number among the state’s 88 counties, he said. However, now 54 counties reported more new cases.
The growth in cases is exponential, Robison said.
Board member Bob Midden, a biochemist, said this should be of “massive concern.” He attributed most of the increase to private social gatherings in homes.
“If it continues we’re in trouble,” he said.
So far the county has fared well in terms of capacity at the hospital, but that could change.
He noted that Missouri now “doesn’t have the capacity to serve all the patients who are seriously ill.”
Also, hospitals are running into problems because many health care workers are infected and unable to work.
Wood County Hospital has been accepting transfers from other counties, Robison said. But the situation at the hospital bears watching.
He noted that there are no designated COVID-19 beds.
“A bed is a bed is a bed.”
If COVID cases start occupying those beds it means less room for people dealing with other ailments.
If hospitals lose the ability to treat other patients, that’s bad for health and for the financial stability of hospitals.
The spread will also have an impact on business and the schools. Now some schools that had face-to-face instruction are reverting to online instruction. because so many teachers, staff and students are absent. They are infected or are in quarantine because they were in contact with someone with the virus.
At this point, Robison said, “everyone has to act like everyone around you can be contagious. The people you’re inviting into your home may be contagious.”
While a vaccine being developed by Pfizer is on the horizon, he said, that does not mean that preventive protocols are less needed. “These guidelines are not going away.”
The county has received $200,000 from the state to bolster its efforts. He and his staff are still coming up with a plan on how to spend that money.
Board President Cathy Nelson said she knows of people needing to be tested and facing very long wait times, or being turned away because they didn’t have an order from their primary care physician.
“We need to actively be doing something,” she said. “It shouldn’t be so hard to get a test.”
The board did approve the purchase of new rapid PCR tests, which are more reliable than antigen tests, and should produce results in 30 minutes.
Robison promised that if the demand was there, the department would add to its corps of 13 contact tracers.
Robison also sought to dispel the persistent notion that the COVID-19 is no worse than the flu. The COVID-19 fatality rates are far greater than recent flu outbreaks, including H1N1.
Midden also said that COVID-19 can have long-term effects on heart and lung health, even among people who initially don’t have serious cases. As an example, he said, a relative who lives in Illinois and who was in top physical condition hasn’t been able to shake the symptoms months after contracting the virus.
“I know they’re getting tired,” Midden said of the public. But people lived through World War I and World War II.“We need to generate that kind of commitment, that kind of motivation now.”
