By Jondi Gumz
Simpkins Family Swim Center in Live Oak will be repurposed as an alternate care site for people with the highly contagious coronavirus COVID-19 and paid volunteers are needed to staff it, Mimi Hall, director of Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency said Tuesday night in a telephone town hall with Supervisor Zach Friend and his constituents.
Mimi Hall
She expects to put 40 beds at the county facility, which has a kitchen, bathrooms, plenty of parking and a circular drive for easy ambulance access.
To help, sign up at healthcorps.ca.gov or call 831-454-4242.
This is part of Gov. Newsom’s effort to recruit retired doctors and nurses and medical school and nursing school students near graduation to help.
“Everyone over 60 should shelter in place,” Hall said. “We have given permission to doctors over 60 to stay home and they have chosen to come to work.”
So far, 350 people have been tested, with 49 positive, Hall said.
Asked how many are hospitalized, she said “two or three,” which includes the county’s first resident to succumb to COVID-19 on March 28.
Since the first case March 6, the county made caseload projections.
“Early modeling showed us with a lot more cases,” Hall said. “I thought we’d need the alternate site by now.”
Neighboring Santa Clara County, home to many tech companies with factories in China, reports more cases, 956, with 60+ new cases a day, and 32 deaths, mostly men.
One surprise there is people either are mildly ill or they’re in the intensive care unit, very few “in the middle ground,” Hall said.
Dominican Hospital’s vacant rehab center on Frederick Street in Santa Cruz was considered, she said, but two other “ideal” sites have been identified, not naming them.
More N-95 medical masks are needed, she said, because “tens of thousands of masks (from various stockpiles) are not usable.” The problem: Brittle elastics to secure the mask have broken. Workers at Santa Cruz Bicycles repaired some for use.
“Home-made masks are OK for everyday people,” she said. “We’re trying to obtain medical-grade masks for health care workers.”
Also needed: Ventilators, hospital gowns, face shields and booties.
“We are not going to ventilate or oxygenate our way out of this problem,” Hall said.
In a week, more testing will be possible. Next week, Dominican Hospital expects to get a machine that provides testing results in 15 minutes, she said. County Health Services, which has been sending test specimens to a stat lab in Santa Clara County, has ordered the same machine.
A task force of 26 specialists representing hospitals and community clinics is meeting to discuss how to house people who are homeless using federal FEMA funding.
Asked if patients might be treated with Chinese herbs, which were mandated in China, or intravenous Vitamin C, reported to save 50 lives at a Shanghai hospital, Hall said, “our health care providers are going with what’s proven. They don’t want to test hypotheses.”
A clinical trial of the HIV anti-viral lopinavir-ritonavir involving 199 patients in China found no benefit but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine despite the lack of clinical trials, citing use in other countries.
The county on March 23 urged travelers to stay home, especially college students who might be tempted to gather on Santa Cruz beaches.
Vacationers are not allowed to use vacation rental homes, Friend said, noting some are housing health care workers who fear their exposure to COVID-19 could pass it on family members.
Hall said the March 9 social distancing guidelines appear to work — the rule for people to stay six feet away from non-family members. Children are not seen at Callaghan Park in Watsonville, according to resident Amy Newell, but a constituent had concerns about compliance at McGregor skateboard park in Capitola and the stairs at Cliff Beach in Pleasure Point. Trails at Pogonip Park are of concern, too.
Two sheriff’s deputies are working 24/7 on compliance, focusing on gatherings at rental homes.
The city of Santa Cruz has closed beach parking lots, but the county has not.
“Exercise for all of us is very important in a very stressful time,” said Molly Ording of Capitola.
Hall agreed, “It helps people stay calm.”
To a constituent in Seacliff asking if she could drive to Wilder Ranch State Park, Hall said, “If you’re keeping your distance, that’s great.”
•••
Supervisor Zach Friend will host a tele-town hall 6-7 p.m. April 7 with Dr. Larry DeGhetaldi, Sutter/PAMF Santa Cruz CEO, to discuss COVID-19, his insights from the medical side and to take questions from the community. Call 831-452-2222 and use Meeting ID 145384#