Much has transpired in regard to COVID-19 since the Gilmer County Board of Health last met three months ago.
At that March 10 meeting, Dr. Zachary Taylor, director of the North Georgia Health District, described early virus activity in Georgia as “an evolving situation we’re all going to need to plan and prepare for” as he briefed board members about the likelihood of communities having to use mitigation strategies like closing schools and public venues to curb spread of the disease.
As the local board of health met again last Tuesday, this time via teleconference, Taylor gave an update on coronavirus testing and related happenings that have occurred in the six-county health district since the pandemic began.
“As of this morning, 160 COVID-19 cases had been reported in Gilmer County. The good news is we’ve actually seen fewer cases recently. Perhaps we’re going to be headed downward, which would be really good news,” Taylor reported.
“I give a lot of credit to that to the testing that’s being done in Gilmer County by your public health staff and the interviewing and contact tracing being done by our staff and your public health staff,” he continued. “All those people have done a great job responding to this.”
Krystal Sumner, nurse manager at the Gilmer Health Department, said the local public health staff is now doing coronavirus testing two days a week. Testing is available from 9 a.m.-noon Monday and Friday at the ETC Pavilion on Legion Road, she confirmed.
The test is free and anyone can be tested, but an appointment has to be made first, Sumner said. The Gilmer Health Department can be reached for appointments or more information at 706-635-4363.
“Testing is available five days a week in Cherokee and Whitfield County. We have testing in Pickens once a week and in Fannin once a week. There’s a lot of testing still available within the area of Gilmer County,” Taylor noted.
Sumner said 1,320 coronavirus tests had been administered at the Gilmer site as of June 2. Of those, 886 patients were from Gilmer, 182 from Pickens and 136 from Fannin.
“We’ve been testing since April 20. Our clinic has been closed for several weeks so we can focus on that effort. We even saw people who were from Florida, North Carolina and Alabama and a few from Copperhill, Tenn., as well as several people from other counties who work locally and came to our test site,” Sumner noted.
“I want to thank everyone who’s helped out with our test site (including) the National Guard and local law enforcement. It has really just been seamless and a great thing to have in our community,” she added.
Sumner outlined some of the community outreach done by a team that has informed local residents about the virus and how to protect themselves.
“Six weeks ago, we had a meeting with Piedmont Hospital and we coordinated an outreach team. This was in regard to an up-tick in the number of Hispanic patients we were seeing testing positive for the coronavirus. We partnered with Pilgrims, ETC, Gilmer County Schools, the Gilmer Chamber, Gilmer County government and Gilmer EMS,” said Sumner, the team’s chairperson.
“We were able to give out a lot of information via the school Seamless Summer Nutrition Program. We partnered with EMS and went to Walmart and handed out a thousand masks. We went to Pilgrims and gave out over 500 informational packets about the coronavirus. We made videos we sent out to Hispanic churches about how to wear masks and the importance of social distancing. We partnered with Faith, Hope and Charity (Recycle Store) and they’re giving their patrons informational cards about (those practices),” she added.
The outreach team is still active and can provide those informational cards to any business who wants to hand them out, Sumner noted.
Taylor said the local Pilgrims poultry plant “has worked hard to be responsive and to provide an environment that’s safe for their employees.”
“They deserve some credit for that,” he added.
Sumner said the Gilmer Health Department opened back up for all services Tuesday, June 9.
“Today was our first day and we’ve been very busy,” she added.
Taylor reminded those attending the teleconference that the coronavirus is still a health threat that is easily transmitted and the number of cases here could rise again.
“We should never lose sight that we’re still dealing with this virus. We’re going to be dealing with it for a long time and it certainly can come back. As we saw with what we had in Gilmer County, which started out with one of the lowest case counts within our district and then had a very large surge, it can happen fairly quickly,” he said.
“We need to maintain our vigilance and I would encourage you in your community to make sure you protect the most vulnerable. That’s our elderly and people that have chronic medical conditions. When you’re out in public, we encourage people to wear masks. That keeps the transmission from asymptomatic and presymptomatic people from happening. Continue to wash your hands and clean surfaces and social distance to the best of your ability as we open up our workplaces and, in the near future, open up our schools.”
People should not assume they aren’t at risk for contracting the virus, he added.
“All it takes is you are exposed somewhere in public or one of your friends or family members are and they inadvertently infect you. The way I would approach is what is my own personal risk. If I do become infected, what is my risk of having a severe illness or requiring hospitalization? We have a treatment now, Remdesivir. It’s not a fabulous treatment, but it certainly is helpful to persons who are hospitalized. Hopefully we will have better treatments in the future,” Taylor said.