Jefferson County Health Official Hold Second Briefing On Coronavirus

All parties have stressed the importance of social distancing.

File Photo

(Madison, Ind.) - Jefferson County health officials are urging residents to take Governor Holcomb’s stay at home order more seriously and gave an update on the county’s response to the ongoing pandemic at a press conference Tuesday morning at the Jefferson County Public Safety Center.

Tuesday’s briefing was the second one since the Emergency Operation Center was activated in support of the County Health Department. The county will now be hosting two briefings a week to keep the public informed.

On Friday, March 27, EMA Director Troy Morgan has raised the operation center’s stats to a level 4, which is where it remains, this establishes daily operations and extended hours.  

Blythe Couch, Jefferson County Health Department Public Health Coordinator stated that the stay at home order is very important at this time.

Saying, “if more people do not stay home then more people will be getting sick.”

Couch also stated that if these patterns continue then essential businesses will be pushed harder. She also stated that residents should consider consolidating trips to the store or even designate one member of the family to go to the store.

Couch also spoke on testing saying that King’s Daughters Health is a testing site for multiple counties, so as testing is done the reports will come back to KDH but will not affect Jefferson County. The positive test will be reported for the county that the person is from.

As for backlogged lab work, there is no longer a problem with the result being delayed. The results are now coming within 24 to 48 hours from the individual being tested.

Carol Dozier, president, and CEO of King’s Daughters’ Health said last week KDH had suspended all elective surgeries, but things such as cancer patients, and emergencies will remain open.

“We have done this to conserve resources and to protect people and our own staff,” she continued. “This allows to preserve out personal protective equipment.”

The KDH supply chain staff is working daily to acquire additional supplies such as masks, gowns, and gloves to ensure that the hospital does not run out of personal protective equipment.

KDH is also making sure that they have enough cleaning supplies as well.

KDH has allocated certain areas of the hospital to place COVID-19 or suspected of COVID-19 patients so they will not be in the area as other patients.

As of now, there have been 89 people tested with two states and nine counties that KDH serves. From those tests, there have been four positive cases, 33 negatives, and 52 pending tests.

Yesterday, KDH received 40 additional test kits from the emergency stockpile release.   

“We are planning each day as things evolve, our physicians and staff are prepared to help the people of this community, we are working closely with the state and other hospitals in the region to share practices, learn and prepare,” said Dozier.

The KDH COVID-19 hotline is still available if anybody has any questions at 812-801-8010.

As of right now, there are patients being treated for COVID-19 at KDH, but with the low number of cases, they are not releasing how many exactly so there cannot be a traced back to that individual.

“We have been testing people, but due to the small amount of test we cannot test everybody,” said Couch. “By testing, we have been able to chase down those who we believe have been affected contacts.”

Shane Williams, Director of EMS for KDH, spoke on how the resources come to the county.

"The state uses a system to report daily in regards to ICU, personal protective equipment, and so on."

The state has distributed the two packages that they have received from the emergency stockpile. The first was based on county size and populations, and the second was based on where the coronavirus has impacted mostly. 

He stated that the state is putting resources in the area that they believe these things are needed more. 

All parties stressed that they testing that has been done in the county and have come back positive will not affect Jefferson Counties numbers, as of now there is still one positive case in the county, and previously mentioned positive cases are from surrounding counties that KDH serves.