8-14-20 Haywood County Health Director Message & Status Update

Haywood County Department of Health and Human Services -- Haywood County Health Director COVID MESSAGE #25

THE NUMBERS, HARD WORK, ARTICLES, REMINDERS, AND RESOURCES

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PEOPLE, NOT NUMBERS

The good news: We are seeing a slowing of new positive cases this week in Haywood County after an acute, disturbing spike in cases recently.  Some of us stepped back and teased out the data and it reveals the majority of our cases come from the big outbreak at Silver Bluff and a few clusters at workplaces in Haywood and Jackson, with spread from staff to family and friends (along with some of the “usual” travel cases). That’s why we keep emphasizing our concern about get-togethers, even small ones. If you are going to have a get-together please wear a mask.  Hopefully, more widespread mask usage is starting to pay off. Let’s hope so.

The bad news: The COVID working number and, unfortunately, the number of deaths continued to rise. According to our most recent conversations with administrators, the outbreak at Silver Bluff now includes a total of 96  residents and 53 staff members. Sadly, there have also been 23 deaths at the facility. So far 17 residents and 34 staff have recovered. This is a facility that has done everything right in terms of infection control and limiting exposure, and they are still experiencing a tragic outbreak. This is the awful part of community spread.  A care worker who has done everything within their power to follow guidance to keep themselves and their patients safe can still be exposed by a careless person outside of work. This is the reason we stress that EVERYONE needs to practice the 3 W’s. It’s our collective responsibility to do everything we can to protect congregate living facility staff and their residents. In a pandemic environment, casual carelessness by a few can have wide ripple effects. Our thoughts and support go out to the Silver Bluff residents, staff, and the families of both during this extremely challenging time. 

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WORK WORK WORK!

Haywood County has a new, more user-friendly COVID-19 dashboard interface.  You can find it here: https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/684/Coronavirus-Covid-19-Information. 

You’ll notice that we now have the COVID Working Number at the top of the dashboard, and it has its own chart. The working number reflects how many people are currently in isolation after testing positive, plus people currently in quarantine after being identified as a close contact of a positive case.  The COVID Working Number shows how many people are currently being monitored by our COVID-19 response and contact tracing team.
If you look at the COVID Working Number chart on the dashboard, you can see that this number has been increasing rather dramatically, which increases our staff workload. It helps to understand that the working number isn’t a static group of cases, either. Each day there are new people going into isolation and quarantine, while others have met the requirements to be released. There are countless moving parts, phone calls, documentation, and record submittals behind each of the numbers. Kudos to the Public Health COVID-19 team, who have responded by quickly developing some new methods and systems to streamline processes and improve efficiencies. We have also received much-needed aid from other parts of the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency.  Staff members from Environmental Health and Economic Services have graciously stepped in to assist with necessary phone calls to positives and contacts. To those co-workers: THANK YOU from the bottom of our Public Health hearts!  You’ve made a huge difference.
Speaking of recognizing hard work, the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce awarded the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency with their Business of the Month Award for August 2020, in recognition of our COVID-19 response work.  We are extremely proud. With everything that’s happened in the last few weeks, this recognition was a boost that couldn’t have come at a better time. Thank you, Chamber.
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ARTICLES AND TIPS

Tempted to attend a crowded event? Take every possible precaution to avoid being affected by a potential “superspreader.” Research continues to show that COVID is more likely to “super spread” than the flu. Figuring out what drives superspreading events could be a key factor in ending the pandemic. The attached article states: “…coronavirus superspreading events were most likely to happen at the intersection where bad timing and poor placement collide: a person who has reached the point in their infection when they are shedding large amounts of virus, and are doing so in a setting where there are plenty of other people around to catch it. According to a model built by Dr. Schiffer’s team, the riskiest window for such transmission may be extremely brief — a one- to two-day period in the week or so after a person is infected, when coronavirus levels are at their highest.” 
Feeling at your wit’s end as the pandemic continues to drag on? The attached article offers helpful tips for destressing and ‘resetting’.
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AS ALWAYS

WEAR a mask that covers your mouth and nose
WAIT six feet apart--give others space!
WASH your hands frequently with soap and water, and disinfect surfaces
ISOLATE as soon as you feel sick, and get tested (see attached guidance about when and how to get tested)
QUARANTINE if you are exposed or tested for COVID
DO what you can to NOT be a close contact with anyone
 

Remember a close contact is considered to be within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes and not wearing a face covering. Your best bet is to protect yourself and others by following the guidance above.

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RESOURCES

As always, please be sure to check reliable sources for COVID-19 information…and check out Haywood County’s redesigned, user-friendly dashboard!

https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/684/Coronavirus-Covid-19-Information
https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
 https://www.facebook.com/haywoodcountync.gov/
Haywood County COVID hotline: 828-356-2019
NC COVID hotline: 888-892-1162