Sixteen people are being treated at Jennie Stuart Medical Center for COVID-19 symptoms, and at least three of those patients are on a ventilator, a hospital official said Tuesday.
Seven of the patients in the hospital have tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, said Beth McCraw, vice president of nursing and clinical care for Jennie Stuart Health. Test results are pending for the other nine patients, she said during a teleconference with local officials.
The county has 37 confirmed, active cases of COVID-19, said Christian County Health Department spokeswoman Amanda Sweeney. In addition, 11 people who previously tested positive for COVID-19 have now recovered.
The number of local cases by age group are:
- Pediatric (0-21): 1
- Young-Middle Age Adult (22-59): 20
- Older Adult (60-84): 13
- Elderly (85+): 3
There have been no deaths in Christian County from the coronavirus.
Outbreak at Western State Hospital
In his daily briefing Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted three institutional settings in the state where the spread of COVID-19 is a serious concern for health officials.
One of those is Western State Hospital (WSH) in Hopkinsville. The others are the Green River Correctional Complex at Central City and several of the state’s nursing homes.
Beshear said nine patients and four staff members at the psychiatric hospital have COVID-19.
On Monday, Jennie Stuart Health CEO Eric Lee confirmed three of the WSH patients were being treated at Jennie Stuart.
WSH administrator Roger Westfall referred questions about the coronavirus outbreak to state officials. The cabinet has not answered several questions from this news outlet, including how many patients are at Western State and whether the psychiatric hospital is equipped to treat medical problems related to COVID-19.
Staff from Jennie Stuart and the health department met Monday with officials from the state and WSH, but no one locally would disclose any information about plans to control the outbreak at WSH. Local officials would not comment on whether there are plans to evacuate and clean WSH.
Local order prohibits groups in stores
County Health Director Kayla Bebout urged residents to abide by an order she issued Monday that prohibits more than one person in a family or group from being inside a store at the same time. The goal is to reduce large numbers that could increase the spread of COVID-19
“Our bigger stores are where there’s a lot of people that have been congregating. I went around this weekend and saw that myself,” Bebout said.
Health officials said they have observed that stores are doing a good job to try and enforce the order.
“We just ask the citizens to please adhere to this as well,” Bebout said.
Bebout said she believes the public’s response to health measures will determine when the local outbreak peaks.
“I think we are probably a good month away, to be honest,” she said.
The health department has, so far, declined to identify any workplaces or other locations linked to people testing positive for COVID-19.
But Bebout said the health department will alert the public if a restaurant employee tests positive and could have spread the virus through food.
“If there is a concern with contamination of food, for any reason, then we will need to notify the public because that is a public concern,” she said.
Community pitches in to help Jennie Stuart
Jennie Stuart has been buying and receiving donations of the personal protective equipment — masks, face shields, gloves and other materials known as PPE — that healthcare workers need to treat patients with the highly contagious COVID-19.
“We feel like we are not really near our peak yet, so we want to make sure we have the equipment we need for our employees,” McCraw said.
Because the surge hit other regions of the country earlier, Jennie Stuart has had time to work on building up its supply of PPE, said Lee.
“We were out in the market fighting very, very early to secure as much PPE (as possible), not knowing what our surge is going to look like,” he said.
The local hospital is in better shape than areas where nurses have been seen wearing homemade protective gear, said Lee.
Several individuals and businesses have been dropping off donated protective gear at the hospital.
Dr. Paul Herrell, a Hopkinsville eye surgeon, owns a 3-D printer and has been using it to make face shields for Jennie Stuart.
“You just can’t say enough about people who are using their time, their technology, their know-how and their capabilities to protect the physicians and the great caregivers we have in this community. It’s just phenomenal,” Lee said.
Parks chief urges social distancing
Tab Brockman, superintendent of Hopkinsville Parks and Recreation, said his department is already making plans for a post-coronavirus community.
When the outbreak is over, public places like the city’s recreational facilities will have more focus on prevention and hygiene, he said. That will mean things like many more dispensers for hand sanitizing and more time spent cleaning restrooms.
The city’s parks and the sportsplex are closed because of the coronavirus, but the rail-trail, the dog park and the walking trail at Tie Breaker Park remain open.
Brockman encouraged people using the rail-trail to observe social distancing by moving to the opposite side of the trail when passing others.
“Get that 6 feet in between people,” he said.
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
