Stanislaus County is rolling back response to COVID-19. Flu season could pack a punch
Stanislaus County public health officials are unwinding their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals and the community are no longer seeing a severe disease impact from the virus.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county public health officer, said the public health division will discontinue bed polling at hospitals and take other steps to return responsibility for testing and treatment of COVID-19 patients back to private healthcare providers. The county is rolling back efforts in anticipation of California ending a COVID-19 state of emergency this fall.
Vaishampayan and fellow staff members gave a quarterly update on COVID-19 and other contagious disease issues to county supervisors Tuesday.
The public health officer, who plans to retire in November, said hospital monitoring will start again if local hospitals report a significant impact from COVID-19 as contagious illness spreads in the Northern San Joaquin Valley this fall and winter.
According to Tuesday’s update, the OptumServe test-to-treat sites in Salida and Turlock will be discontinued when California’s state of emergency is lifted, but the county is working to make sure testing and medications like Paxlovid, for preventing a severe case of COVID-19, are available from community providers.
“The state emergency is unwinding and we are trying to put everything back to where it was before,” Vaishampayan said.
The county is expecting a heavy flu season in the late fall and winter months based on influenza outbreaks in Australia, a country that’s usually watched to predict the upcoming flu season in the United States.
The updated booster shots that target the original COVID-19 virus and omicron subvariants are available locally. County public health is still putting a priority on vaccination of high-risk populations. People can get the updated booster shot two months after a previous vaccine dose and it can be received safely at the same time as a flu shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The county plans to continue with COVID-19 education efforts for schools, seniors and community groups.
As of Tuesday, there were 34 patients with confirmed COVID infections in local hospitals. According to a surveillance report, the county confirmed 48 deaths due to COVID-19 from early April to mid-August, with 85% of the deaths among people 65 and older. The COVID-19 death toll in Stanislaus County now stands at 1,857.
Monkeypox cases updated
Public health staff also provided an update on monkeypox, a contagious disease marked by a rash and painful blisters. A total of 15 county residents have been diagnosed with the illness, which has mostly spread in California among gay or bisexual men.
Health officials said 189 doses of the Jynneos vaccine against monkeypox have been administered in the county to those meeting the strict eligibility requirements. The county has received a vaccine supply of 352 vials. About five doses can be measured out with each vial.
Additional information about monkeypox and the vaccine can be found at www.schsa.org/monkeypox.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 3:19 PM.
