Image courtesy of Cape Cod Healthcare
HYANNIS-An update on Cape Cod Healthcare’s continued planning for the novel coronavirus was provided Thursday.
Medical Director for Infection Prevention for Cape Cod Healthcare Dr. David Pombo provided details on a conference call. He was on a similar call last week.
Pombo explained that there are still no reported positive cases of COVID-19 on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod Healthcare continues to be proactive in planning, according to Pombo. He said team members are meeting consistently to ensure that wide-scale testing will be carried out efficiently when it becomes available.
“We’re also meeting just to make sure that processes that will protect patients in the hospitals are widely disseminated and widely understood by them,” Pombo explained.
No testing is available in the area yet. However, Pombo expects that more wide-scale testing will become available within the next week to 10 days.
Testing is available to the state and Pombo said that they have a sufficient number of tests. He explained that testing is being expanded across the country.
Pombo recommends following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that state evaluations should only be conducted if needed. Residents are also recommended to not go directly to doctor’s offices if symptoms are not severe, but rather stay home and contact their primary care providers remotely if they are feeling symptoms such as a cough, fever, or difficulty breathing. If people are feeling those symptoms, Pombo explained, they should be masked.
Pombo expects that the process of developing a vaccine should take 12-18 months.
When testing is established in the area, Pombo noted that Cape Cod Healthcare is planning for a large number of tests to be carried out. With that, certain measures are being taken beforehand.
“There’s a whole supply chain effort to make sure all of our personal protective equipment is available, and those people are working around the clock,” he continued.
Specifically, he said zones are being established in hospitals where patients can go, and where negative air pressure rooms can be put into use. Pombo also said that they are exploring whether offsite beds for people that need oxygen therapy can be implemented, and whether they can use single rooms where patients have similar symptoms.
Planning is also being conducted to see what facilities are available in the case that the situation continues to get bigger.
Pombo said a centralized screening, testing, and evaluation place should be established. It would be offsite from a hospital.
Cape Cod Healthcare is cancelling all non-essential travel for its employees.
Pombo is advising residents to utilize common sense over the next number of days. Hands should consistently be washed with soap and warm water, coughs and sneezes should be covered, and other forms hygiene and health etiquette recommended by the CDC and Massachusetts Department of Public Health should be followed.
Those who feel sick should not be heading into school or work, Pombo said, and they should be isolated. This also goes for Cape Cod Healthcare employees. Large crowds and gatherings should also be avoided.
Health recommendations are updated consistently by the CDC and Public Health Department.
For more information, visit the CDC’s website by clicking here, or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s website by clicking here.
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