MAYVILLE – There are still just three confirmed cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Chautauqua County, according to a Thursday afternoon from the Chautauqua County Health Department.
Health officials said there were no new positive tests reported to their office on Thursday to add to the number of three confirmed cases reported a day earlier. However, despite the current low number of confirmed cases, County Health Commissioner Christine Schuyler has repeatedly stated that the virus is likely more widespread in the county and people are just now showing symptoms yet or are awaiting test results to come back.
“I firmly believe that COVID-19 is at the level of community spread, meaning that regardless of our ability to test or even to have a large number of positive tests, the virus is here and without the extensive community mitigation strategies that are being deployed it will spread at a rampant rate,” Schuyler said.
On Monday, March 23, the health department said there were two separate COVID-19 cases in the north county, one out of Silver Creek and the other out of Dunkirk. On Tuesday they announced a third positive case from a resident in Ashville.
RESIDENTS ASK ABOUT POTENTIAL EXPOSURE SITES
Since the county reported that there are now three confirmed cases in our area, the Health Department has received some questions and criticism with community members, asking why health officials are not publicly reporting locations connected to people who are confirmed cases.
“Would these people have been anywhere that would be considered a ‘high traffic area’? Are we only going to talk about the towns they live in ….not the ones they work in?” asked one visitor.
Another county resident wrote they felt the health department owed it to residents to give more information about the confirmed cases. “Not names of positive cases,” they wrote, “just locations for possible contraction sites so we can be more vigilant and protect ourselves. At this point, the health department and our local government is failing us as a community when it comes to monitoring gatherings of people.”
WRFA has also received inquiries from our listeners asking if a potential exposure list was going to be provided by the county.
We reached out to Schuyler on Wednesday and asked why specific locations are not being listed, especially if it is a location used by multiple people and was directly connected to a confirmed case.
“In all three of the confirmed cases in Chautauqua County to date, the individual and all household contacts were identified and ordered in mandatory quarantine, and all proximal contacts were identified and ordered into precautionary quarantine,” Schuyler wrote in response via email on Thursday. “If a broader potential exposure would have been identified, then it would have been publicized. Just because someone works somewhere or visited a place, one cannot assume that there is broad exposure.”
Schuyler also said the determination of how to proceed with providing public information is done after an investigation into the confirmed case is complete.
“Public health nurses conduct epidemiological investigations per public health standards and in conjunction with New York State Department of Health epidemiologists to determine who may have been exposed to an individual confirmed by lab testing to have COVID-19,” Schuyler said.
When COVID-19 cases were first reported in Erie County, NY by its health department, it began to provide a list of potential exposure locations. For nearly two weeks from March 4 to March 16, the Erie County Health Department listed over three dozen different locations connected to a positive case and stated, “If you were at one of the following locations at the listed dates and times, monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and call your doctor if symptoms develop.”
The locations range from specific airline flights and rail transportation to various public gathering places like the mall, department stores and libraries.
However, no locations have been listed since March 16 despite an ever growing list of confirmed cases, meaning the virus is too widespread at this point and it would seem to be virtually impossible to keep a running list of all potential exposure sites. Health officials have instead urged social distancing and self isolation for all residents whenever possible.
LIMITED TESTING ALSO UNDER FIRE
The issue of limited testing is also a concern from the community. Chautauqua County is not alone when it comes to the supply not meeting the demand for testing and healthcare providers are trying to limit testing to only those who are showing specific symptoms.
Schuyler said on Wednesday during the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting that the county doesn’t know just how many residents are being tested because testing is done many times by a healthcare provider and that information has not been passed on to the county.
The health department also said that while it doesn’t know the exact number of tests that are awaiting results, in can report that there have so far been 53 negative lab reports to date, compared to just the three positive.
“Although we cannot be aware of the exact number of tests awaiting results because tests are being performed at a variety of sites, we are able to report that, to date, we have received 53 negative lab reports. The large number of negative results is a positive sign that community mitigation strategies are working,” the health department said on Thursday.
As of Thursday afternoon there were 11 county residents in Mandatory Quarantine (that includes the three confirmed cases), 25 people are in precautionary quarantine, and 46 are in mandatory isolation due to showing possible symptoms and are awaiting a test result.
Individuals with questions or concerns regarding Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) or travel related questions are encouraged to call the New York State Department of Health Coronavirus Hotline 24/7 at 1-888-364-3065. For locally-specific information, County residents may also contact the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services at 1-866-604-6789 during normal business hours.
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