Stanislaus County touts efforts to control COVID-19 outbreak after a brutal July
Stanislaus County had a tough battle with the COVID-19 epidemic in July.
But leaders insist they are not sitting on their hands as the grueling pandemic continues into August.
Along with assistance promised by the state last week, county government is trying to expand contact tracing and expects to roll out a mobile testing service as early as next week.
The county does not have a silver bullet for reducing the spread of coronavirus in hard-to-reach neighborhoods in Modesto, where infections spread rapidly last month. But it is teaming up with community organizations to work on solutions.
A surge of infections believed to have started in mid-June exploded with 5,427 confirmed cases in July and the positive test rate soared to a state-high 23 percent, putting strain on local hospitals and the health system. Sixty county residents lost their lives to COVID-19 last month, raising the death toll to 104.
County leaders are feeling the pressure to get the epidemic under control, so students can safely return to school campuses and business operations can resume.
They’re also dealing with a population that is not nearly 100 percent compliant with face coverings and social distancing advice. Last month, the rate of new infections swelled in the county’s nine cities and unincorporated towns. As of Saturday, Stanislaus County had a total of 9,061 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak began, according to state data.
Pat Burns, administrative fire captain for the Salida Fire Protection District, said at a virtual municipal advisory council meeting last week that at least half of the district’s calls are medical assists for people with COVID symptoms or people who previously tested positive.
He said crews decontaminate their protective equipment after every incident.
Hospitals in Stanislaus County are not disclosing the number of health care workers or employees who have tested positive and come down with symptoms; other hospitals in the Central Valley are reporting the data.
Saying that many nurses are becoming ill, unionized nurses at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto plan a picket for Wednesday. They charge the hospital’s owner has not provided them with proper protective equipment and nurses are required to use recycled N95 masks.
The nurses are also protesting what the union says are unsafe proposals to waive state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios and require each nurse to care for more COVID patients.
Sutter Health, the parent organization for Memorial Medical Center, cited privacy in not disclosing COVID illnesses among staff. “Even in times of emergency, the responsibility of protecting patient, staff and clinician privacy remains one of our priorities,” Memorial said in a statement.
Local hospitals have opened more intensive care capacity for COVID patients and other patients who are seriously ill, by converting some regular hospital rooms for ICU beds.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, the county’s public health officer, said last week hospitals can have more than their licensed number of ICU beds in an emergency, if they’re able to provide qualified nursing staff. On Friday, local hospitals were caring for 220 patients with COVID-19 illness, including 53 in ICUs, leaving 7 percent of adult ICU beds available.
During a Board of Supervisors presentation last week, Richard Murdock, county assistant director of emergency services, said a local hospital was severely short-staffed in the emergency department during the surge last month. Officials considered the idea of using ambulance paramedics and emergency technicians to assist the hospital, which was not identified.
A sister hospital came through with additional staff, Murdock said. Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock asked a state emergency program in July to provide some extra nurses but the request has not been approved, a county spokesman said Friday.
Mobile testing is coming soon
The county is working on an ambulance company agreement for using paramedics and EMTs to staff a mobile testing service. The county saw a temporary drop in daily tests in late July after Doctors Medical Center pulled back nurses that staffed the large Salida testing site, Murdock said.
The testing has started to pick up again. The mobile service will make testing available to farmworkers in the 1,500-square-mile county. The county is also working with the state on a possible shelter for agricultural workers who test positive and need to be isolated.
Murdock told supervisors a fourth stationary testing site is needed and staff are seeking a vendor. In addition, the county is pursuing a contract with a firm to add 50 contact tracers for finding residents who’ve tested positive and identifying those they’ve been in contact with.
The county’s 75-member contact tracing unit, which was augmented by 25 state workers, has been stymied by slow testing results. People who test positive can’t be reached quickly to make sure they and their recent contacts don’t spread the virus to others.
As the state and national lab system catches up with demand, the county hopes a new testing site and scores of additional contact tracers will make a difference.
This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 4:30 AM.
