Coronavirus mostly spreading among household members in Stanislaus County, expert says
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county public health officer, shed more light on the gradual, yet steady increase of confirmed coronavirus cases in Stanislaus County.
Saturday, the county reported its second death — a day after reporting its first — from the worldwide epidemic that has shut down businesses, schools and community events across the county. The local caseload jumped to 116 people who have tested positive, up from 95 at midweek, including 36 people who have been hospitalized since the first cases were reported March 11.
Vaishampayan revealed the biggest category of cases were close contacts of people who previously tested positive. The health officer said it’s mostly spreading in households.
Last week, a review of what was then 95 cases showed 41 were contacts of identified cases. In a smaller number of cases, there was no known contact with a person who tested positive and it’s assumed those people caught the illness from community transmission.
Vaishampayan said her office plans to start posting numbers under the different categories of transmission.
The county still has a dozen travel-related cases on its books from the start of the outbreak, but travel is no longer considered a primary source of illness.
Vaishampayan said homes with one of more people infected are placed on quarantine. The county’s contagious disease surveillance team monitors the homes through phone calls. In-person visits would create a risk of spreading the illness to staff, Vaishampayan said.
“We don’t usually go to the home unless we can’t find them,” she said.
Vaishampayan said residents have reduced the amount of community transmission through compliance with stay-at-home orders and social distancing, and that should continue to keep the outbreak in check.
Stanislaus County offers guidance to households
The county provides guidance to those households touched by coronavirus. A person with symptoms is advised to stay in a room apart from others and use a separate bathroom if possible.
A family member should wear a face mask before entering the sick person’s room. Likewise, the infected person should wear a mask and maintain 6 feet distance when entering a room with other family members. Counters and other surfaces in the home should be cleaned often.
Household members should wear masks and observe hand-washing and social distancing if more than one person is sick.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for ending home isolation are two negative tests taken 24 hours apart. For those who have not been tested, the time for ending isolation is 72 hours after fever and other symptoms have gone away. Affected people usually ask their physician.
Vaishampayan said she believes affected households are observing home isolation. “If people need help, we have services to help them get groceries or take care of other needs,” she said.
County leaders acknowledge the number of county residents infected with coronavirus well exceeds the number of confirmed cases. Positive tests are reported to county health services by commercial and public labs after physicians order tests typically for people with worsening symptoms.
The county has not pursued wider testing, citing the shortage of test supplies such as swabs. The county is talking with an outside company about setting up a testing site for first responders, Vaishampayan said.
Modesto area hospitals speed up testing
Two hospitals in Modesto now have upgraded equipment for providing quicker test results for coronavirus.
Sutter Health of Sacramento said it has deployed molecular testing technology at eight hospitals, including Memorial Medical Center, which can now get test results in 15 minutes or less for patients sick enough to be admitted. Rather than sending specimens to outside labs, the “close proximity” test equipment green-lighted by the FDA can tell which patients in hospital beds have COVID-19 and which do not.
In accordance with CDC guidelines, Sutter said it’s collecting test samples for COVID-19 or Influenza in high-risk patients, including those with underlying conditions. In an effort to preserve test supplies, Memorial is only collecting tests from patients with symptoms and risk factors.
Faster testing helps with correct treatment of the patient and conserves personal protective equipment that’s in short supply. Nurses don’t have to gown up and wear face shields for patients who are negative.
Doctors Medical Center will soon begin in-house testing of hospitalized patients who have coronavirus-like symptoms, spokeswoman Krista Deans said, noting the turnaround time for test results will be 45 minutes.
Vaishampayan said it’s fortunate the epidemic has mostly bypassed local nursing homes; outbreaks in care facilities have resulted in fatalities in other counties in California.
English Oaks Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Modesto had a patient who tested positive for coronavirus last month. The person was isolated in the facility and no other nursing home cases have emerged.
Top county officials expect that stay-at-home orders and closure of non-essential businesses will remain in effect through April and well into May. Officials have started to talk about how restrictions would be carefully lifted, so employees could return to offices and businesses could reopen doors without causing a new spike in illness, the health officer said.
People returning to jobs could be wearing masks, restaurants might have partial table service for a while and other social distancing measures would remain in effect.
“We can’t just go back to normal,” Vaishampayan said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom would first need to release the statewide stay-at-home order. “It could be sometime in May,” Vaishampayan said. “I have a hard time seeing it before four weeks are up.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 6:33 AM.
