CORONAVIRUS: ONE YEAR LATER

Publishers Note: Since we are now a year removed from the virus, over the next few weeks we will be looking at where we have come from since the beginning of the pandemic and where we are now.

The scientists will tell you that the COVID-19 pandemic, that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. “The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic a year later in March 2020. As of 9 March 2021, more than 117 million cases have been confirmed, with more than 2.6 million deaths attributed to COVID-19, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history,” notes Wikipedia.

Though we know that the outbreak started in Wuhan, China. There is still speculation about how the disease started. According to the World Health Organization, “Most researchers think the virus originated in bats, but how it jumped to people is unknown. Other coronaviruses have passed from an intermediate animal hosts; for example, the virus that caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002–04 probably came to people from raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) or civets.”

However according to a Washington Times article, “U.S. intelligence findings recently declassified by the State Department provide fresh evidence for the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic likely began at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, China’s sole high-security laboratory that has links to the country’s military.”

For us here in Cass County, mid-March, like pretty much everywhere else in the nation, we were caught completely by surprise. Lacy Gross, our reporter at the time, broke the news in the March 11th issue of the then “Atlanta Citizens Journal” about the pandemic. At that time Gross reached out to the various leaders in the community for answers and was met with hesitation because so little was known, even the top scientists in the country were in disagreement in how to best deal with the pandemic.

In the March 19th issue Police/Fire Chief Robin Betts said that there was an emergency preparedness plan in place for coronavirus. “However, the protocol is fluid and will be determined as we learn more about the virus and its behaviors. The Atlanta Police Department is updated daily, and information is disbursed through the Department of Public Safety’s State Emergency Management.”

“Through our Regional Advisory Committee and our Homeland Security, our COGS, you have an emergency management coordinator for each jurisdiction. The CDC and the federal government feed information to the states, then from there it’s fed down to us,” said Betts at the time.

Because of the health risks to the elderly, Betts received regular updates during that time.

One such update came from Brandy Pulliam, Director of Nursing at Golden Villa Nursing and Rehab. She then explained that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, provides additional guidance to nursing homes for infection control and prevention of coronavirus.

Pulliam made a statement on behalf of Golden Villa regarding newly implemented measures to safeguard residents on that Monday.

“The facility has been directed to follow CDC Guidelines about the Coronavirus outbreak. In doing so, the facility has taken the steps to temporarily limit visiting hours to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Also, all visitors must register with the receptionist during business hours and at the nurse’s station after hours. Each visitor will be asked to complete a simple questionnaire about Coronavirus screening. Visitors that are experiencing the following are asked to not visit the facility until the symptoms have cleared; runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever, or difficulty breathing.”

Christus released the following statement on March 2, 2020 regarding coronavirus. “In the event that possible coronavirus patients need hospitalization after screening, we have identified a portion of our facility as the best place to allow us to isolate and safely care for any potential patients without risk of transmission to other parts of the facility.”

Additionally, “Christus Health currently convenes daily, sometimes more, to check on our emergency preparedness plans. We have had many hands-on-deck during this process. Nearly everyone from physicians and nurses, quality and safety experts to those responsible for ordering supplies and keeping the hospital clean is involved in making sure we can do the best for our patients, our associates, and this community we serve.”

At that last Monday’s city council meeting, David Cockrell made the statement. “We are aware of what is going on, nationally, particularly in Washington State right now. We realize that we’re a small city and also realize that none of us are immune. We’re working with each individual department to make sure that planning isn’t an afterthought for when you need to be making decisions. We’ll be putting something together, round table some very simple things like what things we’re going to close and what services might we cut back.”

Cockrell suggested the possibility of not accepting electric or natural-gas payments within the city’s office. Instead, customers would be directed to use the outside drop box to minimize contact. If that action is taken, Cockrell said contact with the public will be reduced by 50%.

Fast forward to this week. Vaccine clinics have begun popping up around town, with CVS, Genesis Prime Care, Walmart, Christus, and The Texas Department of State Health Services among others beginning distribution. The three vaccines currently approved in the United States by the FDA are Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, and the most recent - Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen. Moderna is the most common being distributed here in Cass County.

The clinics have organized their distribution based on these priorities with phase 1A being frontline healthcare workers and residents at long-term care facilities, and phase 1B being people 65 plus or people 16 plus with a health condition that increases the risk of severe COVID‑19 illness.

And now, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, “With the federal directive, the following education and child care personnel are now eligible to be vaccinated in Texas: Those who work in pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools; Head Start and Early Head Start programs (including teachers, staff, and bus drivers); and those who work as or for licensed child care providers, including center-based and family care providers.”