By Patrick Mcardle
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State officials and local hospitals are preparing for their next step in responding to COVID-19 now that the first Vermont case has been presumptively identified.
The respiratory illness, caused by the novel coronavirus, has been presumptively identified in a patient being treated at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, or SVMC, in Bennington.
The diagnosis will be official after it is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.
The patient is currently in an airborne infection isolation room at SVMC. The only identifying information that has been released about the patient is it is an adult from Bennington County.
More than 30 other Vermonters have been tested for COVID-19, all coming up negative. The state is monitoring about 220 individuals.
A news release from the Vermont Department of Health explained the agency’s response.
“Public health epidemiologists are working to investigate possible travel or exposure history and to identify anyone who had close contact with the (patient). Those individuals will be assessed for their exposure risk and provided with guidance for their health. Where appropriate, they will receive recommendations for self-isolation or other restrictions,” the release stated.
Staff at SVMC also are being interviewed to be sure they were safe while providing care and that other SVMC patients are not being put at risk.
Dr. Rick Hildebrant, chief medical information officer at Rutland Regional Medical Center, said a patient one county to the south potentially infected by the virus was not a surprise.
“We have been preparing for a long time. We knew that this was going to happen. We knew that there was going to be a case in Vermont and we’re ready for the first case in Rutland, Vermont. It will happen. This is a very contagious illness that’s spread through the entire globe despite very aggressive measures to try and track and prevent its transmission, but because it’s so contagious and there’s a lag of at least three days before people get illnesses, they’re spreading it. So it’s going to come here,” he said.
Hildebrant said the risk factors for COVID-19 are not the same as other diseases. They include age for people who are older than 70 and especially those older than 80, as well as chronic, co-morbid conditions, especially respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive respiratory disease, and weakened immune systems.
Tracy Dolan, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, said the Scott administration and state agencies are taking the response seriously.
“We are working around the clock to ensure that the right prevention messages get out, to ensure that we have the right kind of testing criteria, to make sure that the lab is up and running and processing tests quickly,” she said.
Dolan said individual Vermonters can help by following the recommendations of health care professionals, like washing hands frequently for at least 20 seconds using soap and water, and staying home when sick. More tips can be found at healthvermont.gov/covid19
People coming back from the five countries most affected by the novel coronavirus — China, South Korea, Japan, Iraq and Italy — have been “great about self-isolating,” Dolan said.
Dr. Jessie Leyse, an infectious disease physician at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin, said medical professionals are taking advantage of learning opportunities.
“One of the benefits of being part of such a small state is we do have a smaller medical community and so there’s a lot of communication between everyone. Throughout all of this preparation time there have been a lot of discussions with all of the medical centers and with the (Vermont) Department of Health, especially in coordinating response and care so there’s a consistent message and there’s a consistent response throughout the state,” she said.
Dolan described the relationship between the health department, the CDC and local hospitals as “great.”
“The CDC provides guidance for us which is very helpful. It changes a lot and that’s difficult, but that’s because this is a novel virus so things are emerging and we’re learning all the time. The hospitals have been great. The testing has been going well. We’re able to get it to our lab and there we turn it around quickly,” she said.
Asked whether there was any information that she thought was being overlooked, Leyse said patients should call their primary care physician, discuss their symptoms, and ask whether they needed to be evaluated. She stressed that she was not instructing individuals not to go to the Emergency Department if they felt it was necessary, but she said calling ahead could help limit a patient’s exposure to the virus, or the exposure for others at the hospital.
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