Henry County Board of Health discuss preparations in response to the coronavirus outbreak

MT. PLEASANT - At their meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the Henry County Public Health received an update on the county's response to the coronavirus outbreak and learned there are currently five cases in the county.

Though the state currently reports that there are three cases, Shelley Van Dorin, Henry County Public Health Director, said numbers would be updated soon to include the two new cases.

Van Dorin gave an overview on coronavirus cases in the state. Iowa had an 88 case jump from Monday to Tuesday, the highest spike so far. Currently, the state has had five cases in people ages 0 to 17; 113 cases in people ages 18 to 40; 150 cases in people ages 41 to 60; 132 cases in people ages 61 to 80; and 24 cases in people over the age of 81.

'I still think we're on the upward swing by a long shot. I think this is just the beginning,” Van Dorin said.

Though numbers have jumped, Van Dorin said it is encouraging to see that 203 cases within the state have never been hospitalized. The state has also had 6,162 negative tests for COVID-19 and 'still have plenty of testing supplies,” according to Van Dorin.

The public health director added that the Iowa Department of Public Health is letting local partners do the investigations related to the coronavirus.

'We get a notification of a positive case, it's like six pages, and we follow up and we follow that patient ... 7 days and starting to feel better and have no fever,” Van Dorin explained. The public health director added that all individuals who have tested positive are 'very cooperative and very understanding,” as they self-isolate.

In response to a question about whether positive cases are being tested at the hospital, Van Dorin added that many of the cases were tested at the University of Iowa.

She noted the only hurdle has been with employers requesting doctor notes either for patients to stay home or go back to work. Currently Van Dorin is working with Kristi Ray, the executive vice president of the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance, to discuss the issue with local businesses.

The public health director also explained a person is clear to go back to work if seven days have passed since the start of the illness and a person has gone three days without a fever (without the use of medication) along with improvement in symptoms. The public health director also noted people are probably most infectious when they are the sickest.

'That's where we're really finding with these cases, they don't have a fever and it's been seven days but their symptoms aren't that much better. So that's where we're having to hold them in isolation a little bit longer,” Van Dorin said.

Following Van Dorin's update, Dr. Tom Bainbridge, a board member, asked about the county's preparedness in facing the outbreak.

'We do still have a shortage of supplies. We send out a request every week and they see how much they can send us … will there be holes? Yes, but we're trying to be ready,” Van Dorin said of supplies coming from the state. She added that the county received a shipment last week, which went to health care providers in the area who needed the equipment.

In terms of funding, Van Dorin said her department has applied for several grants and has been approved for $11,390 from the Emergency Preparedness Grants, which will cover the department's hours during the outbreak.

Board members also asked about the use of masks for the general public. Dr. Tom Bainbridge noted several recently-published papers in the medical community have disputed the CDC recommendation that people not wear masks. He also pointed to countries like South Korea and China, that have been 'successful” in addressing the pandemic, has encouraged its people to use masks.

'The thing that troubles me is that it's a less than honest recommendation. I wouldn't say ‘Oh no you don't need it,' I would say ‘The recommendation is that people who need it most and have the most benefit is with the health care providers,'” he said.

Van Dorin explained the situation still is very fluid and that there is 'so much that we don't know and so much don't have control over because of the lack of personal protective equipment.”

Van Dorin added her biggest concern related to the outbreak currently is the 'critical standards of care,” things that have been discussed by the state.

'When they might have to pull one person from a ventilator to put another person on, that bothers me, and mass casualty,” Van Dorin said.

The public health director said some counties are currently attempting to procure refrigerator trucks to store bodies due to the outbreak. She added funeral directors in the state are also discussing plans on how to respond to a potential mass casualty.

'They're preparing us for the worst,” Van Dorin added.