COVID-19 hasn’t slowed in Stanislaus County. Here’s why the numbers are wrong
Don’t let the lower case numbers fool you.
The state’s top health officials say a decline in coronavirus case numbers this week might seem encouraging, but it’s an undercount caused by technical problems with the CalREDIE system that records COVID-19 test results from labs.
The state and Stanislaus County are not yet on the road to recovery and the technical problem is a serious one.
Along with providing current stats on the spread of coronavirus, which guide state and local decisions to close or reopen businesses and schools, CalREDIE is an important tool for the county contact tracing process that helps slow the spread of COVID-19 illness in communities.
Tuesday’s update on Stanislaus County’s coronavirus dashboard showed 31 new cases out of 106 tests. Daily tests of more than 1,000 were common during the second half of July.
The county issued a disclaimer saying Tuesday’s figures represent an “under reporting of actual positive cases” because of continued issues with the state’s CalREDIE electronic case reporting system. On Wednesday, the dashboard was no longer available online, replaced by a notice about the problems.
Statewide, the data showed 5,739 new cases Monday and 4,500 Tuesday. The state has not seen such small single-day increases since early July.
Stanislaus County remains in a contagious disease emergency, with 72 deaths in the past 17 days. The county Health Services Agency reported nine additional coronavirus deaths Tuesday, which occurred over the past two weeks, a spokesman said.
Six men and three women succumbed to COVID-19; all of them had underlying health conditions. Three were between the ages of 61 and 70; three were between 71 and 80 years old; two were 81 to 90; and one was older than 90. The county did not disclose their city of residence.
An additional 10 deaths were reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 145 during the pandemic. County health services said four men and six women lost their lives. All but one had underlying health conditions.
Hospitals in the county are caring for 278 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 disease, with 96 percent of adult intensive care beds in use. A total of 9,408 coronavirus cases have been confirmed since March.
Regardless of the low case numbers posted by the county, the local outbreak “is very serious at this point,” county Supervisor Vito Chiesa said. “I don’t think anyone is thinking this is going away anytime soon.”
Royjindar Singh, a spokesman for Stanislaus County’s emergency operations center, said the state is working with counties on a way for them to receive coronavirus test results directly from labs. Complete test results are needed for the county’s contact tracing team to perform its job.
The county’s contact tracers have routinely taken new case information from CalREDIE and then called individuals who tested positive to make sure they are quarantined and not spreading the virus to people they know.
“The case numbers we are getting are not accurate,” Singh said Wednesday. The state is directing labs to contact counties directly about positive cases, he added.
“They are trying to identify an appropriate way to do that. Should it be done via phone, email or fax? From what I am told, it’s not identified yet,” Singh said.
State task force visit with Stanislaus County
County officials held meetings with state representatives Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about state assistance for flattening the curve of new infections in the distressed county. Agencies taking part in the meetings were the county, California Office of Emergency Services, the Department of Public Health, Cal OSHA, Housing and Community Department, the Department of Social Services and Department of Food and Agriculture.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he’ll work with the Legislature on approving $52 million in support for hard-hit counties in the Central Valley. Details of the state assistance for Stanislaus are expected to emerge from the meetings this week.
“A lot of it is having that discussion and talking about areas where we can provide assistance based on the priorities and needs of the county,” said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for Cal OES.
Ferguson said it’s possible the state could assist with shelter space or additional housing for farmworkers who contract the virus and need to isolate.
County leaders have hoped the state can help with speeding up the turnaround time for testing. Other needs are additional staffing for hospitals and a plan for mobile testing for underserved populations, Singh pointed out.
Ferguson said the state sent a strike team of experts to Imperial County, where agricultural workers disproportionately have suffered from COVID-19. Stanislaus County has similar challenges.
It’s not known if state assistance will target hospitals or problems at nursing homes and congregate living centers in Modesto and Turlock. Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock has asked for extra nursing staff from a state program.
In addition, the county has struggled with large to small outbreaks of COVID-19 illness at eight or more nursing homes and assisted living centers.
Nurses protest in Modesto and Turlock
On Wednesday, nurses at two medical centers, Doctors of Modesto and Emanuel in Turlock, held protests demanding proper masks and protective equipment and reversal of a waiver that has given hospitals flexibility on nurse-to-patient ratios.
National Nurses United said the waiver endangers nurses by increasing the number of COVID-19 patients under their care.
Ten nurses held signs with the message “Save Lives, Protect Nurses” in front of Emanuel on Wednesday morning, trying to draw attention to their push for more personal protective equipment. Nurses at the Turlock hospital are still requesting one-time use of N95 masks, but management suggests they wear the same one while treating different patients whether they have COVID-19 or not, said Raechel Bairos, a registered nurse and union spokesperson.
Nurses at Doctors say they are required to use recycled N95 masks.
In the emergency room, Bairos said she currently sees a surge of COVID-19 patients that are sicker and require more care than earlier in the pandemic. No age group seems to be over-represented, Barios said, and typically patients come in with difficulty breathing, fever, chills and loss of taste or smell.
The hospital does not inform nurses how often patients are dying of COVID-19, Bairos said, adding that management has yet to notify her about exposure to the virus through a co-worker who contracted it. Nurses don’t have an idea of how many co-workers are getting sick, she said.
“Even within our department, we don’t know if someone is testing positive unless they were to tell us particularly,” Bairos said.
Bairos said the workload varies on different floors, but each nurse is assigned to about four patients, some of whom have COVID-19 and some with other medical conditions. Nurses are asking to reduce those ratios to one nurse for every one or two COVID-19 patients, she said.
The parent company for Doctors and Emanuel issued a statement Wednesday: “While we value all of our nurses who are represented by (National Nurses United), we are disappointed that the union is taking this action. The demands of COVID-19 have placed a great strain on all California hospitals and we remain committed to protecting the health and safety of our patients and staff.”
The hospitals are following guidelines set by the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the statement added.
The statement also expressed “immense pride in the extraordinary professionalism and dedication our physicians, nurses and other staff have demonstrated every day in caring for our COVID-19 patients. This work has not been easy, but they have risen to the challenge during this unprecedented pandemic.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 7:03 PM.
