Local officials provided an in-depth update Thursday about Daviess County’s fight against COVID-19, explaining the process for testing and reporting cases while also warning that the number of cases will continue to rise.
New cases are announced every morning by the Green River District Health Department, though Director Clay Horton said people should not get too caught up in the daily numbers.
“The public should really not focus on any one day of reporting,” he said. “What’s important to know is all of the guidance and recommendations we’ve been making over these past weeks about reducing the spread.”
Plus, he said the positive results are typically for patients who’ve had the coronavirus for an extended time.
“The virus is invisible,” he said. “We never know if it’s there until it makes you sick. We don’t know it makes you sick until days or a couple of weeks after you’re infected. Then you add in a few more days until you feel bad enough that you want to seek care, and then a few days — depending on the current status of the laboratories — to get those results.”
As of Thursday evening, 641 people had been tested at one of Owensboro Health’s four testing locations. Of those, 67 were positive, 431 were negative, and 143 were pending results.
There are 23 people currently at OH, which serves a 15-county area. Of the 23 patients, five were confirmed to have COVID-19 and 18 others had symptoms but were awaiting results.
Earlier this week, a 60-year-old man from Daviess County was the first patient in the area with a coronavirus-related death.
“It really dismays people at the hospital because this is what we do,” said Owensboro Health Chief Medical Officer Francis DuFrayne. “We fight every day for this and we would like to offer our deepest sympathy to the family, and all families of loved ones of those affected by COVID-19 in our community and beyond.”
DuFrayne said he expects the numbers to rise, but he hopes people will do what it takes to minimize the spread.
“We can’t speculate on when cases will peak in Daviess County,” he said. “That could be anywhere from a couple weeks to sometime in May. The surge is not here yet. We are in a lull, but we are in the middle of a pandemic. It is not time to let up.”
DuFrayne said results are starting to take longer to return as more tests become available across the commonwealth. It can now take three to five days to get a result rather than 24 hours.
However, he said the hospital has ordered an in-house test that would have a 45-minute turnaround time and run 200 tests per day.
For now, though, they have to give tests sparingly because supplies are limited.
“We want to test those who need it, but we can’t test everyone that is worried,” DuFrayne said.
He added that they’ve seen a large increase in people requesting tests but showing no symptoms. He said many of those people have been encouraged to get tested by their employer after someone else at work was confirmed positive.
“The hospital is not recommending that,” DuFrayne said. “The Health Department is not recommending that. We do recommend that you do social distancing as much as possible. If you have symptoms, don’t go to work that day. Call your provider and they will tell you what to do. We can’t randomly test everyone. We don’t have the supplies for it.”
A negative result isn’t necessarily something to celebrate, anyway.
“The test is a false sense of security,” DuFrayne said. “You could test negative today and contact the virus two days from now. Just because you’ve had the test doesn’t mean you’re immune to it.”
Earlier Thursday, the Health Department announced the total number of cases reported in the seven-county Green River District is now 66. The total number of recovered cases in the district is 13 — all in Daviess County.
The Health Department does a thorough investigation for each patient testing positive, then reaches out to anyone who had contact and is deemed at risk.
“We’re going to continue to work cases aggressively,” Horton said. “We’re going to try to contain cases within the community. But really it’s everybody’s responsibility to make sure that they’re staying home as much as possible. Only go out for essentials. Everything else needs to be delayed.”
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The Owensboro Health coronavirus hotline is available 24/7 by calling 877-888-6647. Call the hotline before seeking in-person care. More information from OH can be found here.
For the latest information and data on COVID-19 in Kentucky visit kycovid19.ky.gov or dial the Kentucky state hotline at 800-722-5725.
For the latest health guidelines and resources from the CDC, visit their website here.
