Though no reported coronavirus cases in Stanislaus County, health officials at the ready
With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and rising possible exposures, state and county public health officials are considering if it’s time to transition from containment to mitigation to prepare for wide spread of the virus.
Containment includes efforts to decrease the risk of an infectious agent getting into the environment and causing harm.
Community mitigation measures are actions that individuals and communities can take to help slow the spread of respiratory virus infections, such as the novel coronavirus, and seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses. Information about mitigation actions can be found here: https://www.modbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article240661101.html
Some local health officials, who already have one or more cases in their county, are reaching the time for mitigation. However, other counties have not had cases and can continue efforts for containment.
“It’s not quite time for us to go to mitigation,” said Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, “This allows us a little more time to get prepared.”
Vaishampayan, the public health officer of Stanislaus County, attended the California Conference of Local Health Officers in Sacramento on Thursday.
Management of the coronavirus was one of the primary topics at the meeting.
As of Saturday, March 7, 53 cases with one death and another potential death have been identified and 9,400 people are self-monitoring in California. In Stanislaus County, seven people have been tested. Three results have come back negative and four are pending, according to the county website’s coronavirus section.
She said the public health officers decided the best approach was to begin defining criteria for when jurisdictions should transition to mitigation, since counties are in different points with encountering coronavirus.
The group is working to establish those criteria within a few days.
Cruise ship exposure to novel coronavirus
The first person to die from COVID-19 in California was from Placer County, and he developed symptoms on Feb. 19 while cruising on the Grand Princess.
The ship is being held off the coast near San Francisco, and reportedly some passengers and crew members have respiratory symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
Nearly 2,400 passengers, with about 50% of them from California, disembarked when the ship returned to San Francisco on Feb. 21, after a 10-day cruise to multiple ports in Mexico. The 1,100 crew members and about 60 passengers stayed onboard and departed for Hawaii.
On that Grand Princess ship are Modesto’s Gina Pallotta and her husband, Mike Neky. They have no symptoms, but remain on the ship.
“Today, we were told they won’t be serving meals in the dining room,” Pallotta told The Bee’s Ken Carlson on Thursday. “All meals will be served in rooms. ...The bars are closed, the casino, everything is closed. We were just at the store buying snacks and things because we don’t know how long we’ll be on the ship.”
“We had fewer than 100 people from the county onboard the ship,” said Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, the public health officer of Stanislaus County. She didn’t want to release the specific number.
She said all of the county health officers received a list of passengers who were on the ship’s manifest. San Joaquin County officials received a list of 130 county residents who had been on the ship.
Meanwhile The Fresno Bee reported Saturday morning that there was a case in Madera.
Princess Cruise Line sent a letter to all passengers, including a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommended to self-monitor, as previously suggested for travelers returning from China.
The 14-day isolation period for those passengers ends March 6.
State of emergency
On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency to help increase the availability of emergency supplies and personnel.
This includes releasing millions of N-95 respirator masks for health care personnel, and a request for additional funding from the legislature to combat the coronavirus.
“We’ve activated Emergency Operations Center, pulling in resources and people,” said Vaishampayan, “Currently we need people for messaging as well as planning.”
She said with EOC operating, they can rapidly pull together different groups, such as law enforcement and county service agencies, to get timely information to the public and help with preparations.
Last week, California public health labs received additional viral testing kits from the CDC and 14 labs across the state can perform the tests.
In addition, the Food and Drug Administration has relaxed its Emergency Use provision, including expanding the use of test kits to private laboratories, though the labs must still be licensed in California.
LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics labs are expected to offer viral testing within a few days.
“For now, all testing in Stanislaus County will continue through public health,” said Vaishampayan. However, she said this may change as private labs offer the tests.
More COVID-19 cases are expected, with expanded testing, evidence of community transmission and the large number of possible exposures related to the cruise ship.
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
