Steve Heatherly, CEO of Harris Regional and Swain Community hospitals shows the commissioners an N95 respirator mask.
In the latest move to prevent the potential spread of the highly contagious and deadly coronavirus, Swain County Board of Commissioners imposed a curfew that began Wednesday night and will be nightly from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. until further notice.
The action was approved 4-1 with Kenneth Parton as the opposing vote during the board’s special called meeting on Tuesday morning. It is the fourth addendum to the current State of Emergency the county is under during the global public health crisis. It came as a recommendation from the emergency team and at the request of the sheriff’s office.
People traveling to or from work, people who work in the healthcare field, human services, infrastructure government and those experiencing homelessness are exempt from the order. In addition, if someone is seeking medical treatment at a facility open during those hours or is ordered to be present for a legal matter or is seeking assistance or refuge from a dangerous situation, such as domestic violence, would also be exempt.
Those violating the restrictions can be found guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.
On what prompted the committee to make the request, Sheriff Curtis Cochran said the following: “We felt it was important as we are reaching the peak time it was important to limit movement as much as possible it also was sparked by the increase in the number of calls we are seeing.”
The curfew is another layer of enforcement, he said.
Emergency Management Director David Breedlove added, “One area of our population we’re not reaching is 16-24 year olds. Their risk is not very high based on statistics. If we can use this to get the message to them that they need to stay home and keep their 6-foot distance, I think it’s a positive thing.”
Parton said he wasn’t in favor of the additional measure, saying he didn’t think it would make a difference to those who are already disobeying the stay at home order. Plus, he said, it could impact people who want to get up early and go turkey hunting or fishing. “I believe what we’re doing is working and it’s enough for now,” he said.
County office closures
In other actions, the board unanimously approved a two-week closure of the non-essential county offices between April 20-May 4, which has been identified as a potential peak for COVID-19 cases in North Carolina based on data reviewed by the emergency team, said County Manager Kevin King.
“We’re encouraging everyone to stay home as much as possible, including non-essential county staff.”
Work would continue for essential offices including elections, register of deeds, social services, health department, public safety and sanitation. The action also approved adding paid time off for the county employees. King said the hope is that everything will resume come May 4, but added that everything is fluid right now.
There are still no cases of Swain County residents who have COVID-19. There are a total of 77 tests for the county with 53 as negative and 24 pending, according to information provided by Swain County Health Department on Tuesday afternoon. Private healthcare providers and hospitals are conducting the tests and results are taking an estimated week.
Trail closed
Following discussion, the commissioners also took action to keep the walking trail at the rec park closed to the public through at least May 1. The vote was approved 4-1 with Parton opposed.
King said the rec park and emergency committee closed the trail last Tuesday after someone used the paths to trespass on to the ball fields where the park is closed.
Parton said he understands the public’s frustrations when they tell people that they can go outside to exercise with the stay at home order in place, yet there are so few places to go.
“I’m thinking only a few people mess things up for a everyone,” said Commissioner Roger Parsons. “If we’re taking it as seriously as we should, the next couple of weeks will tell us a lot. I don’t have an issue with closing down the entire rec park including the walking trail for the next couple of weeks to convey the seriousness of what we’re dealing with and then revisit it.”
King also noted that there wouldn’t be any staff working during in the park during that two-week period and that for safety’s sake it would be better to keep the entire park closed, including the trails.
“As much as we can limit exposure in the next 2 weeks the better off we are,” said Commissioner Kevin Seagle.
Hospital prepared
Also at the meeting Tuesday was Steve Heatherly, CEO of Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital, who provided an overall picture on precautions and preparations in place for the healthcare system.
“This is an unprecedented set of circumstances,” he began.
The focus currently is on mitigating the potential spread of the virus and preparing for a surge should it be needed.
Measures began with visitor restrictions in all of the hospitals’ facilities with exceptions in labor, paediatrics and for patients with mobility needs. In addition, screening stations have been put in place at all of the entrances for patients, visitors and employees.
Extra precautions are taken for any suspected cases of COVID-19. The test results are taking about a week.
“We anticipate the ability to do rapid testing within the next few weeks,” Heatherly said. “It’s variable and dependent on when the material is made available, it’s likely to be spent to hot spot areas at first. The good news for our region in Western North Carolina is our communities began heeding the advice really before it became a mandate.”
The system has maintained a good supply of protective personal equipment, he said.
For the protection of patients in the swing bed unit at Swain Community Hospital, the system is not admitting COVID-19 patients at that location at this time, he said, adding that if a surge of cases occurred that could change.
Overall, the system is experiencing a decrease in patients as people who are not in need of immediate care choose to stay home and optional surgeries and other appointments are postponed.
“I’m grateful for the response our communities have had so far and we just need to keep that up,” Heatherly said.
In an update to the board, Swain County Health Director Alison Cochran shared fatality rates as requested by the board. The influenza of 1918 had roughly a 2.5% fatality rate. The annual influenza rate is 0.1%. For COVID-19 in the United States, the fatality rate is 3%, and in North Carolina it is 1.4%.
Upcoming meetings
The board continued a budget meeting following a break. Discussion topics included maintenance needs and expenses for the coming fiscal year. For full coverage, see next week’s issue of Smoky Mountain Times.
The next regular meeting is tonight at 6 p.m. and a special called meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 16 at 9 a.m. The meetings are currently being broadcast on Youtube and the link can be found on the county’s website swaincountync.gov.