Grays Harbor Public Health Director Karolyn Holden said her office is fielding quite a few calls seeking more information on the two positive COVID-19 test results so far in the county, and determining ways to keep the public informed and safe while protecting patient confidentiality required by law.
“As cases are reported — and we expect to have more cases reported as we have expanded testing — we’re getting more questions about why we’re not releasing information about who they are and where they live,” she said in a media briefing Friday morning.
Brianne Probasco, Community Health Specialist and Public Health information officer, said “the short answer is that Grays Harbor Public Health is required to safeguard people’s protected health information by law. We will release as much detail as possible about confirmed cases, without violating the patient’s legal right to confidentiality. In a small county like ours, releasing the person’s general geographic location can jeopardize their privacy.”
Holden said Public Health is teaming with hospitals and the county incident response team to keep the public informed about the number of COVID-19 positive test results, and contacting those who may have been exposed. She explained the reporting process like this:
“We receive that notification and begin the process, working with the patient to find out where they have been and when they were infected and who may have been exposed,” she said. “We ask them for contact information and also ask where they went, including time spent out in public places during the time we understand, based on the best science available, were most likely to transmit (COVID-19).”
Those people who may have been in contact with the patient are notified individually and asked to self-monitor for symptoms.
“If we learn that many people may have been exposed then we do a notification via the media” so anyone who may have been in proximity to the patient has that information, said Holden.
“It’s worth noting this process is consistent with the way we have successfully managed the spread of other infectious diseases,” said Holden. “This is nothing new about how we conduct investigations. We are required to safeguard protected public health information by law, and that does apply even during a pandemic like we are experiencing right now.”
Potential isolation locations
Public Health is “making significant progress on getting financial assistance from the Department of Commerce specifically designed to help us work with hotels and motels” for potential use as quarantine facilities, said Holden.
“Really, this is primarily meant to address the public health needs of those experiencing homelessness or people who can’t effectively isolate at home,” said Holden. “They might need help isolating somewhere else.” She said Public Health is working quickly to find locations and develop processes for identifying who may need such a service.
The Department of Commerce released $30 million in grant money to counties April 1, to work with hotel owners to provide necessary rooms and services for alternative care sites during the pandemic. The funding will help counties meet expected sheltering needs necessitated by statewide social distancing orders. Existing shelters were already operating at capacity before the emergency rules took effect.
“We knew that to keep people safely separated, we were going to run into a situation where there just wasn’t enough capacity in the system,” said Kathy Kinard, grant program manager. “This grant will open up more shelter opportunities across the state immediately.”
Grays Harbor County will receive just under $390,000, Pacific County just shy of $290,000.
Personal protection equipment
The ability to perform tests is not just limited by the number of test kits available, it’s also limited by the personal protective equipment needed for those who administer the tests.
“We are partnering with Grays Harbor Emergency Management, monitoring the supplies with them daily,” said Holden. She said Public Health and its partners are pushing the state operations center for appropriate supplies, and when they are received they are allocated based on what Public Health understands about who needs what.
“I have not heard any messages of desperation” about supplies of personal protective equipment, said Holden. “I hear concern, and providers are projecting their future needs,” but providers have given Public Health a detailed list of what equipment they do have, and what they need.
Test availability
Holden said there is a solid communication plan in place to ensure tests are available for the prioritized testing group and that providers and first responders have the equipment they need. If an individual is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, Holden recommends they contact their primary health care provider to determine if a test is warranted. The list of priority test groups has been expanded in the past few days, but is still limited.
“The priority is to get up to where we want to be. We’re not there now, but we will continue to monitor that to open it up as quickly as we can,” said Holden.
