Virus trends have been good, but Douglas County is ‘prepared for a shift,’ health officer says

photo by: Contributed Photo

Dr. Thomas Marcellino was appointed as Douglas County's health officer in 2012 by the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board.

Though Douglas County’s COVID-19 trends have been positive in recent months, health officer Dr. Thomas Marcellino says county residents must be prepared as the winter season approaches and the spread of the virus increases elsewhere in Kansas.

The 14-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Douglas County has been on a downward trend since early September. LMH Health has consistently been on target for the percentage of beds and ventilators that it has available. And though the county’s school guidance returned to yellow this Thursday, it had been green for the first time since August in the week prior to that.

“The trends have looked good in Douglas County, but we are prepared for a shift,” Marcellino said in a Zoom interview with the Journal-World on Wednesday.

Marcellino stressed numerous times during the interview that Douglas County’s success in mitigating the COVID-19 crisis is a testament to residents’ perseverance in mask wearing and social distancing. But COVID fatigue — a desire to stop being cooped up and careful — is a real thing, Marcellino said.

“We can’t become complacent,” he said, or Douglas County could begin to see the same trend that’s occurring elsewhere in the state.

On Monday, Kansas reported record highs for its seven-day rolling averages of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. And on Wednesday, Kansas surpassed 1,000 deaths from COVID-19. It took six months of the COVID-19 pandemic to lose 500 Kansans, Gov. Laura Kelly noted in a press conference on Wednesday, but just over six weeks to lose the second 500 Kansans. In Douglas County last week, two more COVID-19-related deaths were reported, raising the total to 19.

“When we talk about the success we’ve had, we certainly think about the deaths that we’ve had too,” Marcellino said. “We don’t want to say that it’s been a success when we’ve had loss of life, but I think what we’re trying to do during this pandemic is realize that there’s risk and … while it can never be zero, we want to minimize the damage that could occur if we weren’t doing anything.”

Marcellino discussed a variety of topics during his interview with the Journal-World on Wednesday:

The return of K-12 in-person classes

With proper mask use and other precautions put into place, Marcellino believes children and teachers can safely return to schools. Though school openings are not without risk, there are procedures in place to lower it.

Marcellino cited examples of schools successfully reopening in the Eudora, Baldwin City and Perry-Lecompton districts. While there have been some cases and exposures, he said the schools have done a great job of identifying close contacts, placing people in quarantine and breaking up further routes of transmission to avoid potential outbreaks. In Lawrence, the school district is slowly bringing students back into classrooms.

“It’s important for children to have interactions with peers and for teachers to be able to assess children in person,” Marcellino said. “You know, the psychosocial, mental health and academic ramifications of remote learning are something we have to take seriously.”

Marcellino stressed the importance of supporting the children in the community, who have had their world “turned upside down” during the pandemic. The children in the county have been resilient, Marcellino said, and he’s been impressed by how they’ve adapted to mask wearing.

“In my mind, the ramifications of this pandemic for our children are a big concern,” Marcellino said. “When it comes to their academics and mental well-being, we have to do whatever we can to check on them and make sure we’re there doing the best we can moving forward.”

LMH Health’s testing and surge capacity

Thus far during the pandemic, Marcellino said LMH Health has not been on the verge of overcapacity, and he said that was because residents were cooperating with public health guidelines.

Elsewhere in the state, however, hospital systems are having capacity issues and are having to refer patients to larger metro areas, Marcellino said. As the spread moves in the wrong direction around Douglas County, it will continue to be important for residents to remain vigilant with masking and social distancing to ensure that LMH Health is not overwhelmed. The end goal, Marcellino said, is to keep ICU beds and ventilators available.

As the Journal-World reported, LMH Health determined that federal funding will buy the hospital around 60,000 COVID-19 test kits.

While hospital president and CEO Russ Johnson told the Journal-World the hospital will go through those tests quickly, Marcellino said he thought that was a good number, and didn’t seem concerned about testing availability. When asked whether the county might have to prioritize who gets testing, Marcellino responded, “To a degree we will always prioritize, but at this point we feel confident we have enough tests to do what we need to do here in the county.”

On Thursday, the health department announced that it had relaxed its testing protocols, and the State Finance Committee approved investing up to $45 million more in COVID-19 testing across Kansas.

KU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic

While Marcellino noted that many in the county were concerned about students returning to Lawrence this fall, he said he’s been impressed with the University of Kansas’ response and how well it has done in keeping the virus from spreading. Marcellino said KU developed a good model, and he praised the university for working so closely with the county and city.

Flu season and the winter

As the Journal-World has reported, medical professionals have said it’s especially important to get a flu shot this year. It wouldn’t be good to get influenza and COVID-19 at the same time, and getting vaccinated for the flu will hopefully lessen the stress on health care facilities, which will be especially important if COVID-19 cases surge in the winter.

“When it comes to the flu, the same things that stop COVID-19 stop the flu. That’s mask usage and social distancing,” Marcellino said.

Marcellino said that the Southern Hemisphere had a pretty mild flu season — likely due to mask use and social distancing. “So if we do a good job with those things, we should be able to slow the spread of the flu as well,” Marcellino said.

As the winter approaches, Marcellino said it will be important to find an outlet for stress and to maintain one’s physical and mental health. He advised residents to check in on neighbors, friends and family members and make sure they are doing well.

“I think that winter can be difficult for many reasons, and adding a pandemic, social distancing and the measures that we have to do when it comes to COVID-19 mitigation is not ideal,” Marcellino said. “And so each person has to take each day and focus on their physical well-being and mental well-being.”

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