Health |

Lake, Porter counties and health departments prepare for coronavirus threat as Indiana sees no confirmed or suspected cases

Local officials urge the use of common sense and precautionary measures as the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, takes hold in the U.S.

Elected officials have been providing briefings about local preparedness at regularly scheduled city and county meetings. Health departments in Gary, East Chicago and Lake County are offering tips on how to avoid contracting the virus and providing information on steps in place if the virus does make its way to Northwest Indiana.

Indiana has no confirmed cases of Covid-19, and no one in the state is suspected of being infected at this time, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. To date, ISDH has worked with local health departments to monitor nearly 60 travelers in accordance with guidelines established by the CDC.

The number of people being monitored fluctuates as individuals complete the 14-day monitoring period. Currently, 26 individuals are being monitored in Indiana due to their history of travel or contact with an individual who has traveled to an affected country.

“This is a time to plan, not to panic,” said Dr. Kris Box, state health commissioner. “The situation with the novel coronavirus is changing rapidly, and I know that can cause concern because we don’t have all the answers yet.”

Box said what the state does have is a plan for how to respond if and when Covid-19 appears in the state.

ISDH is working with state, local and federal partners to refine existing pandemic response strategies, which include specific measure to prepare communities to respond to local transmission of the virus.

Mayor Jerome Prince on Tuesday during the Gary Common Council meeting said he has been in continuous contact with the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Roland Walker, Methodist Hospitals, the CDC and the State Department of Health.

“The last few weeks there has been lots of discussion. Everyone is absolutely concerned,” Prince said.

Walker said people need to take preventative measures to avoid the virus, which mirror those for the common flu.

“There is no way to predict if or how Gary will be affected,” Walker said. It’s proximity to Chicago and its industrial corridor means local officials will need to be vigilant.

Gary has an emergency preparedness team in place and has identified three sites within the city that could be used for testing and other services should the need arise. Lake County also has an emergency response team in place, Lake County Health Department Director Chandana Vavilala said. They are hoping to perform a drill with all the participating entities in the coming weeks.

Vavilala gave a presentation Wednesday about Covid-19 at the Lake County Commissioners meeting. Department officials are “working very closely” with the CDC and Indiana State Department of Health guidelines, Vavilala said. Gary and East Chicago health departments are doing the same.

Currently, there are three categories of people who are being checked or monitored for the disease, Vavilala said. The first is those who have recently visited countries where “there is a high risk” of the virus, such as China, South Korea and Italy, and show symptoms, such as a fever, she said.

The second group is people who have been to “high risk” countries or in proximity with others who have been to those countries but don’t show symptoms, Vavilala said. The state department gave the county health department the names of eight people to monitor, seven of which were interviewed and cleared, she said.

One person was found to have had been in contact with someone who could’ve been exposed to the virus, said Lake County Health Department Administrator Nick Doffin. The person was quarantined for three days, after which it was determined the person was “asymptomatic,” he said.

The final group of people being monitored are elderly people hospitalized with influenza and pneumonia like symptoms but don’t have the flu or pneumonia, so they are being tested for coronavirus, Vavilala said.

The state health department has coronavirus testing kits as of Tuesday, Vavilala said, but the kits haven’t been distributed to counties to avoid panic. If there was “suspicion” of someone with coronavirus in the county, Vavilala said tests can be completed with state approval.

The precautions people should take are similar to prevention against the flu, Vavilala said. If someone is sick and has a fever, they should stay home until they are fever free for 24 hours, she said.

The virus stays on surfaces “longer than we’d like,” so it’s important to clean surfaces, like tabletops and door knobs, often, Vavilala said.

Commissioner Jerry Tippy, R-2nd, asked how long it takes before symptoms of the virus appear. Vavilala said people are monitored for 14 days if they believe they have been exposed.

After 14 days, there is “very little chance” people have the virus if they don’t show symptoms, Tippy concluded.

“Very little chance,” Vavilala said, crossing her fingers.

Vavilala said she will make a presentation at the Lake County Council meeting March 10, where she hopes to have “good news or some better news” about the virus.

In East Chicago, Arnita D. Fowlkes, manager of the city’s health department, said in an email the city is neither a clinical risk nor epidemioligical risk site for infection. Reports of patient symptomatology or geographical and/or travel risk will be handled according to ISDH guidance.

“As testing kits become available we remain ready to become an access point for referral and supportive care,” she said.

In Porter County, where lab testing ruled out a possible case of coronavirus earlier this year, Board of Commissioners President Jeff Good, R-Center, said the county’s health department is planning a presentation for the commissioners’ March 17 meeting about how officials there will handle a potential outbreak.

Because of the demand for information from schools and other organizations that want the health department to give a similar presentation, Good said the presentation will be captured on video and shared online.

He also is hoping the county will have test kits for the virus in the coming days.

“We’re just moving real fast and doing what we can,” he said.

At Tuesday’s Portage City Council meeting, Alaina Albanese, quality improvement manager for NorthShore Health Centers, gave an overview of how to prevent the spread of the virus.

“It’s new, so they’re always updating information,” she said, adding that the CDC and the Indiana State Board of Health offer the best standard of care and best resources. “As things change in our community, your local and state health departments will be helpful.”

Anyone who feels as though they are getting sick should stay home, Albanese added, and call the doctor’s office to discuss symptoms before showing up. She also advised against using a face mask, which are already in short supply worldwide because of the spread of the disease.

“If you are well, a facemask is not doing anything” compared to just keeping distance from others, she said.