Gilmer Public Health, GCSO providing direction
Since the state Department of Public Health announced last week that someone in Gilmer County had contracted the COVID-19 flu virus, local social media speculated who the person might be — from a worker in the communications industry to a physician traveling back and forth from Atlanta. There are now three cases in the county, according to the newest DPH report released Tuesday evening.
Keith Kucera, director of the Gilmer Public Safety Department, said the identities of the residents diagnosed with Coronavirus will not be made public, at least by officials, because of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
“Because of those rules, we don’t have that information either,” he said. “The only thing we’ll get from (state health officials) is you have someone in your county who tested positive for COVID-19, that’s all we’ll know.”
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Kucera was asked how first responders were protecting themselves, since they often must be in close contact with victims of wrecks, fires and medical emergencies.
“Our firefighters are basically life-support first responders, as well,” he began. “So they’re just as at-risk in those type scenarios. We are using the CDC and Department of Public Health guidelines as far as universal precautions are concerned, including gloves, masks, eye protection, outer-garment wear like gowns and face shields, as needed.”
With around 40 full-time personnel and 28 part-timer responders, are there plans if someone in the department does gets sick with the virus?
“We’re doing every possible mitigating factor we can come up with,” Kucera said. “We’re having to get creative, if you will, in trying to figure that out. We are at 100 percent staff — but we’re not at 105 or 110 percent staff, which is where we’d love to be so we could put reserves (in) if needed. Part-time employees could help fill gaps if full-time employees became sick.”
When asked if the local Emergency Operations Center has been opened, he revealed there has been a “partial activation” since the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak in Georgia.
With a military career behind him and now time in emergency services, Kucera was asked about precautions citizens should take to avoid becoming infected, based on his experience.
“If there is a need, a necessity for you to go out and get groceries, doctors appointments, before you go, call your doctor to make sure that procedure is absolutely needed,” he said. “If it can be deferred, we recommend you try and defer that.
“If you need to go out and get those essentials, go get them but don’t bring your entire family with you — we’ve seen a lot of that at grocery stores, it’s a family gathering — and that’s not the wisest thing to do. So we encourage folks to go out there by themselves, one or two at the most, because that’s going to reduce exposure and impact.”
Kucera commended stores and other places of busienss that are still open for making their environments “as clean and sterilized as they possibly can be for the community ... The guidelines are saying the at-risk community is senior citizens.”
‘Being smart about it’
Capt. Frank Copeland of the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office was asked how the department is handling situations where deputies may have to be in close contact with victims of crimes or suspects.
“We answer calls as we normally do whenever they come in, regardless of the type,” he said. “If somebody sees something they need to do a traffic stop on, they’re going to continue to do that. It’s just being smart about it. We’ve got direction from the CDC and EMA advisories, they’re pretty much the same — social distancing and all the other recommendations.
“We provide officers with everything we can get our hands on for protection. They’ve got some masks, they’ve got some gloves, we have hand sanitizers.”
What if an officer becomes symptomatic of the Coronavirus?
“We’re following the directions of EMA, Piedmont and Northside hospitals in regard to that,” he said. “If you’re not symptomatic, you work. If you have symptoms, we will send you home and run it through EMA to see what your symptoms are. If they meet the testing criteria threshold, then we will get them tested.
“We haven’t had to do it, but that’s what we’re going to do if something happens.”
Kucera believes there is daylight at the end of the current COVID-19 tunnel:
“I really feel that although this is a tough time, the only way we’re really going to make it through is to make it through together,” he said. “And that’s gotta be something that’s impressed upon everyone — that we stick together, make sure we’re doing the right things for the right reasons, and obviously, look above, ‘cause He’s going to help us as much as we ask for.”
COVID-19 in mountain counties
Whitfield — 18
Dawson — 18
Fannin — 10
Murray — 10
Pickens — 9
Gilmer — 2
Towns — 1
Union — 1
(As of Monday, April 6)