On Teleconference, Authorities Beg South Coast Residents to Stay Home as Virus Wave Builds
Three local authorities urged South Coast residents to prepare for a coming surge of the Covid-19 virus by taking basic steps to protect themselves and our elders: stay at home, wash your hands often, and avoid unnecessary trips to the store.
RCMS Physician’s Assistant Barbara Brittell, South Coast Fire Chief Gregg Warner, and Coastal Seniors Executive Director Nancy Gastonguay spoke to 100 people at an hour-long online town hall produced Friday night by GMAC Member Tom Murphy, who wrote this story.
The topics ranged from symptoms and prevention to the best way to help if local cases overwhelm RCMS’s capacity. Here are a few key topics:
• Common symptoms include a dry cough, a temperature, and difficulty breathing. If you have these, call RCMS to schedule a visit. You will likely be told to return home and self-quarantine. “There’s nothing more we could do for you anyway, even if you tested positive,” said Brittell.
• The sickest patients may be tested, but the results take 8-10 days. Brittell said serious cases will be sent to hospitals but they’re expected to exceed capacity quickly, leaving RCMS with nowhere to send the patients.
• The No. 1 goal for the community is to slow spread of the virus. That would stretch-out the demand on meager local resources. Residents can flatten the curve by strictly observing Mendocino and Sonoma county orders to stay home except for truly essential activities.
• RCMS and Coastal Seniors are seeking able-bodied volunteers for a wide-array of activities. Go to the RCMS site and click on the volunteer button or contact Coastal Seniors at 707- 882-2137 if you want to help.
“The most important thing for people to do is to remain sheltered at home,” said Brittell. “That means not going to the grocery store repeatedly, to minimize your time in the grocery store, trying to have a big plan for shopping – like for a month and then you’re done.”
It also means “really minimizing your engagement with every other human being right now, especially our elders,” she added.
At the time of Friday’s teleconference, there were two confirmed cases in Mendocino County and 41 in Sonoma County, but those numbers are expected to explode soon. A third case in inland Mendocino County was announced Saturday. Nationally, there were 122,653 known cases as of Sunday afternoon, with 2,112 deaths, the CDC said. Every state now has cases and the virus spreading rapidly to rural areas.
Many people who show symptoms haven’t been tested due to a shortage of tests, but are presumed to have the virus and have been ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days. That means using a single bathroom and avoiding contact with anyone else in the home, Brittell said.
Some people without any symptoms may also have the disease, unwittingly spreading it in the community. In most people the virus will “resolve” itself within two weeks, but the risk is much greater for seniors and residents compromised by other conditions. Nobody has natural immunity to the virus, because it’s never attacked humans before. Any age group can get Corona Virus, but the death rate is lower for younger people.
Keep Your Distance: “We need to really be careful with our seniors and people with medical needs,” said Warner, a first responder for four decades. “With what we do have here, we can take care of the population as long as everyone maintains their six-foot distance and keeps this risk in hand so that it doesn’t spike
“If it does spike, it’s going to be all hands on deck and we could be very limited for treatment,” he said. “I know RCMS, CLSD (Coast Life Support District), and all the fire agencies will be maxed out.”
Coastal Seniors estimates there are 2,700 seniors between Irish Beach and Stewart’s Point. It has altered its normal services which include providing hot meals, taking seniors shopping, delivering firewood, and much more. The agency is seeking food donations for its food bank with the next distribution scheduled for April 14.
The group closed its dining rooms in Point Arena and Gualala on March 18, but began providing “meals to go” on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays to seniors and others who need them. It increased its meals on wheels program by one-third to serve newly housebound seniors.
“We’re encouraging seniors to stay home, but for those who want to leave home, we’re providing transportation” to local doctors, grocery stores, and veterinarians, said Gastonguay. “In addition, we’re providing out-of-town transportation to Santa Rosa, Fort Bragg, and Ukiah for medical appointments only. There’s no shopping [on out-of-town trips].”
The virus attacks the lungs, requiring respirators for the most severe patients. Brittell said RCMS has “respirator-like” devices that attach to oxygen tanks,but has none of the suitcase-sized respirators commonly seen on the news. They are in desperately short supply nationally. Some large companies are just starting to manufacture them in large numbers.
If ventilation is needed but no machine is available, Brittell said clinicians and, perhaps, volunteers will hand-pump air into patients’ lungs every six seconds. “Even if it takes all night, that’s what we’ll do,” she said.
RCMS has rearranged its facilities in preparation of caring for numerous virus cases. All primary care visits in Gualala have been moved to the neighboring Sea Watch building, and the exam rooms in the main building have been refitted to handle only virus cases.
It erected three tents at its Gualala facility, including one to screen all patients arriving at the clinic. The other tents can handle 8-14 patients each. “We’re not exactly sure what we’ll be using those spaces for, but we’re trying to prepare to have extra space in case we need it,” said Brittell.
The Point Arena office remains open, but patients there are being screened at the door and referred to Gualala if they have a temperature or other virus symptoms. RCMS has also set up telemedicine services to that patients can speak with a doctor through virtual visits.
Brittell emphasized that urgent care is still available in Gualala for broken bones, heart attacks, or other non-virus problems. She said, “We don’t want you to stay home and get sicker.”
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Tom Murphy, a member of the Gualala Municipal Advisory Council, is lifelong journalist who has covered health, business, technology, education, politics, and many other areas with The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, MarketWatch, and other national news organizations. He founded Newswire21.org, an award-winning nonprofit that blends the insights of local community members with the best practices of traditional journalism.
