Health district, hospital wary after surge in cases

Kootenai County walked into the weekend with COVID-19 on its mind, if not in its system.

A sharp rise in cases and an uneasy number of hospitalizations last week had many on social media speculating what was behind the increase. Many said the students’ return to local schools was to blame. Some said recent demonstrations were the cause.

Katherine Hoyer, public information officer for Panhandle Health District, said there isn’t any one factor driving the spread.

“We don’t believe the spike in cases is due to one reason in particular,” Hoyer said. “After Labor Day, we expected to see a rise in cases, and we did. Then we were all stuck inside for a week due to the air quality from the wildfire smoke. The weather is cooling off and driving people indoors more, which we know provides easier transmission of the virus versus outdoor. Also, the lower humidity in our cooler weather seasons provides a better environment for the virus to spread.”

Panhandle Health reported a total of 286 new Kootenai County cases in the four days leading up to last weekend, a 43% increase from the same timeframe the previous week.

New hospitalizations are trending on a similar path. Kootenai Health officials say the virus that has claimed more than 1.1 million lives since emerging in December 2019 is pulling away at the thread of the local hospital’s ability to provide adequate care.

“While our capacity fluctuates daily, we currently have 25 COVID-19 patients, six requiring critical care,” said Karen Cabell, chief physician executive at Kootenai Health. “Our overall hospital capacity for medical/surgical units is over 90%, and we are struggling to maintain hospital staffing due to employees and physicians becoming ill with COVID. We are seeing a higher percentage of patients testing positive in the last week, and it is higher now than it was in July and August. This is concerning as our hospital is already at capacity. We started July with very few COVID positive patients in the hospital, and we are starting at a much higher census now.”

Cabell added that the health district’s figures have sent the hospital’s procurement team looking for personal protective equipment, trying to find suppliers able to fill gown, glove and mask needs while outpacing the county’s climbing number of new cases.

“We are concerned to see our average positivity rate increasing,” she said. “Our current seven-day rolling average is the highest we’ve seen it so far. We are also concerned about ‘pandemic fatigue’ and that affecting the ability to keep our guard up with hand washing, PPE and social distancing.”

Cabell added that the symptoms patients are reporting as they seek treatment today are roughly the same symptoms COVID-19 presented when the pandemic began — fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea — and that while any one symptom could be the tell-tale sign a patient has contracted the disease, a particular symptom has become more prevalent at the early onset.

“Symptoms can vary greatly case to case,” she said, “but overall we’re seeing similar symptoms to what has been reported nationwide. Many patients are reporting that they lose the ability to smell or taste as an initial symptom.”

Kootenai Health, Panhandle Health District and the Centers for Disease Control continue to recommend keeping at least six feet apart, washing hands, staying home if you’re sick and wearing a mask. That last urging took the form of a mask mandate in late July after the Panhandle Health board approved the requirement, but after law enforcement officials around the area said such a mandate was unenforceable, Hoyer said some continue to disregard the precaution.

“In order for cloth face coverings to be effective, we need greater participation,” Hoyer said. “When someone wears a mask, they are doing so to protect those around them. Masks are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.”

The PHD board meets on Thursday.

Cabell added that, with summer setting into fall, the problem wasn't going away anytime soon.

"It’s important for us all to continue practicing the same preventive measures recommended by the CDC," she said. "As we enter cold and flu season, a time when we see an increase of hospitalizations due to illness, these measures will help prevent the spread of not just COVID-19, but cold and flu viruses as well.

"We should all be doing our best to protect our family, friends and co-workers and working together to prevent overwhelming our local health services."