Flagler County’s first drive-up Covid-19 testing site tested 47 people on Tuesday and today, and the county’s emergency management’s first food drop for the needy provided food to over 400 households on Tuesday at two county locations as local officials continue to contend with the consequences of a community largely immobilized by the coronavirus , and by uncertainty as to when the strictest restrictions might lift.
A county official today clarified that while Flagler has registered its first confirmed case of Covid-19 at an assisted living facility or a nursing home, the case appears to have affected a staffer, not a resident. It’s still not clear whether the facility is in Flagler or not.
“We inquired about that and we were told there was not a sick patient in a long-term care facility at that time,” Flagler Emergency Chief Jonathan Lord said today. “So I would draw the conclusion that it’s a staffer, and logically the staffer would not be at work at this point.” Lord added: “It could be a resident that works in a long-term care facility, the facility may not be in our county, necessarily.”
The figures are compiled by the Florida Department of Health, which lists by county the number of cases connected to long-term care facilities. But the state does not name the facilities. The reason is unclear. Naming the facilities would not be a violation of federal or state privacy rules. But facilities may be loath to have their name connected to Covid-19 cases, and to protect their reputation, the health department so far is going along with the secrecy.
Lord said he has not been told what facility was affected, but said he was “100 percent sure” that if it had been a facility in Flagler, “we would be made aware of it. I have to believe that that would be the truth, and I hope I’m not proven wrong with that statement.”
Flagler County Health Department Chief Bob Snyder today talked about the protocols in place to stave off Covid-19 infections in nursing homes, but he didn’t speak about identifying facilities with cases. “We have someone in our health department that’s in contact with each of them on a daily basis to make sure there are no issues or concerns,” he said. “So we are watching this population very, very carefully.”
The county’s first drive-up testing site, at the Palm Coast campus of Daytona State College, administered 13 tests on Monday and 34 tests today, with results of the Monday tests expected by this evening, Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord said. The testing site was set up with AdventHealth, the health department and Palm Coast government to focus primarily on health workers and first responders showing symptoms of Covid-19. But since demand from that sector was low, tests were administered to residents at large that fit the criteria: those 65 and older with symptoms, or those with underlying conditions, also showing symptoms.
It is not a free-for-all drive-up testing site, and the number of tests are currently limited to 100. Emergency Management is involuntarily sitting on 500 additional tests only because despite daily efforts, state officials continue to deny Flagler clearance to go ahead with those particular tests. But testing options are no longer as limited as they were even last week, with new locations run by AdventHealth in Daytona Beach and more testing available at its hospital in Palm Coast, as at the local health department. So far, just over 800 people have been tested in Flagler. Today, a 60-year-old Flagler resident who had traveled to New Jersey was confirmed positive.
Lord said the county is “reassessing” the operation, so it’s not clear whether there would be additional such food drops yet. “We’re also looking at validating the need to do this,” he said, with other organizations such as Grace Community Food Pantry and the school districts providing food packages, and with the food stamps program adapting to the emergency. “We want to get a better understanding of what others are doing and not duplicate, and also not leave gaps in the community as well,” Lord said.
Local officials are facing increasing questions from constituents about when semblances of normalcy might return, but public health officials caution that the peak of the pandemic for Florida remains more than two weeks away, around May 2 and 3, and that this is not the time to lift restrictions such as beach closures.
Snyder reiterated that caution today during Palm Coast government’s second semi-virtual town hall as he sat on the dais of the Palm Coast City Council, alongside Mayor Milissa Holland and City Manager Matt Morton. All three wore protective masks to underscore public health authorities’ message that, when in public, people should not only keep their distance from each other, but also be masked.
The panel answered questions sent in electronically by constituents and featured the presence by phone of Dr. Stephen Bickel, the medical director at the Flagler and Volusia health departments, Wally de Aquino, the AdventHealth Palm Coast chief operating officer, and Tony Hoffman, CEO of Palm Coast-based Diagnostic Solutions Laboratories, where Covid-19 tests are being processed.
Flagler’s Covid-19 numbers continue to be low, but only relative to other regions: 46 total confirmed cases, seven hospitalizations and two deaths locally, compared to nearly 600 deaths statewide, 3,200 hospitalizations and 22,500 confirmed cases as of Wednesday afternoon.
The seemingly low numbers and conflicting day-to-day messages from the White House and from Tallahassee that undermine the scientific community’s consensus’ the necessity are adding pressure on local governments to lift restrictions.
“We are still ascending the curve,” Snyder said. “We have not reached the top. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation from the University of Washington is now telling us that for Florida, that date is more close to the beginning of May, May 2 and 3rd, so we do have a way to go yet. Let’s take each day at a time.” The institute had a mid-range projection of 4,748 Covid-19-related deaths in Florida by Aug. 3. The range is like a hurricane’s probability cone, the actual number–like actual path–could be on either side of the range.
Holland deferred to “unbelievably knowledgeable, professional, well-informed” officials hel;ping governments navigate those decisions, and who, she said, want to “have our community up and running as quickly as possible.”
Bickel addressed the question directly. “Part of that has to be [that] you have a process in place to control any spread in the future, so when you have small numbers of patients getting this in a community, you can do contact tracing, quarantining, almost like local epidemic control,” he said. “When it gets spread more through the community, you can’t do that. The system gets overwhelmed. So we’re trying to get back to that stage. There’s a lot of discussion now about what to do at that point. It’s coming. The general idea is that you don’t want to do this too soon. You want to virtually wipe out the spread in a community before you relax things.”
Bickel quantified it: “The number they’re talking about is when you get to 10 or so cases in a state, per day, that means most counties would have no cases each day. Then you can revert back to a more normal pattern of activity out in the community, and just concentrate on your public health efforts to contain this, find little outbreaks and snuff them out. That’s where we want to get. Hopefully fairly soon. But you don’t want to jump the gun, because if it slips and you start getting a second wave, then you have to do these whole restricted measures for several weeks to get it under control again. That would be a major setback.”
For now, with Florida continuing to add 1,000 new cases on average per day, the normalcy Bickel is projecting is not yet near.
“Where do we want to get with all this, is basically we want to get to a state that we were in, in January, where there was no Covid here,” Bickel said, “and if it was coming in, we would have the resources, with tests, personnel, knowledge in terms of strategies for testing, that we could let the community go on about its business, which South Korea more or less did, and continue an extremely aggressive surveillance testing and case-containment program so that every time we found a case, we kept it under control and it never spread into the general community. Then people could go on about their business. But to get there we have to get back to such a low number of cases that that strategy would be effective.”
He also downplayed the hopes placed on antibody testing. “There’s been some misplaced hope on the antibody testing and what it’s going to be useful for,” Bickel said. At one point when much larger proportions of the population were feared to have been infected, it could have played a broader role. But infection rates are much lower. So it’s useful for health care workers. But for the general population, he said, “it’s mainly going to be useful for surveillance, to give us an idea, how much did it spread in the community. It’s probably going to be a pretty tiny number.”
Holland today started the weekly town hall on a brighter note, unveiling the city’s “Rise-Up Palm Coast” initiative, “a citywide effort to connect our community in never-before seen ways through these unprecedented times,” as Holland described it. “We’re partnering with organizations and representatives throughout Palm Coast to deliver dynamic, engaging content to help you live a healthy, fulfilling life in even the most challenging of times. You’ll be able to learn about cooking healthy meals, exercising at home, discover family activities, enjoy the arts, performances, and so much more. We are building an ecosystem of engagement for you, our residents, and you’ll be able to view it all on the Palm Coast and Recreations Facebook page, from the comfort and safety of your own home.”
A video then featured the city manager, city directors, the fire chief, Snyder, Superintendent JiM tager, Sheriff Rick Staly, de Aquino (who thanked the community for its recent drive-by parade in support of health workers at the hospital) and others all urging Palm Coast to “rise up” toward better days.
The full town hall is below.
See also:
Tuesday’s coronavirus update
Monday’s update
Sunday’s update
Reader Interactions
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lou says
I am very dumb or our leaders are very poor with their communications skills.
According to published data by our leaders ONLY 0.75% of our Flagler population had been tested for the COVID-19 virus and even fewer found to have the deadly virus. Based on that the County is shut down.
While the County’s tennis, golf, beaches, parks etc, not available for the citizens to use due to “Health reasons” the last I heard the “gated communities ” are not covered by this rule. If that is true most of us would like to know the kind of protection they enjoy so we can learn and get the same benefit.
Chaya says
I know the Hammock Resort gym is open
I’m sure other amenities are still being used.
People in our community had this virus as early as January
WhackAMole says
1. They need to fight harder to test people under 65.
2. They cannot relax social distancing too soon.
3. Business that open when it’s time need to ensure employee safety. If they can’t ensure employee safety they need to continue to allow people to work from home if applicable. If that is not possible, then they shouldn’t open. Employee safety is the most important aspect of reopening businesses.
4. The numbers appear low but most of these cases are concentrated in Palm Coast. Orange County, a county with a higher population had a zip code with as many cases as Palm Coast and considers that zip code overly active. The two zip codes with the majority of numbers is in a region much smaller than the affected Orange County zip code.
5. With so few people tested and a tremendous backlog of tests how can anyone say any curve has peaked or flattened. It’s optimistic at best and a dangerous sense of security at worst.
6. The second social distancing is relaxed, the days reset at zero again. Universal has the right idea closing until May 31. One more month and the numbers will bottom out. People will be trained. Less lives lost. Sometimes the picture is bigger than the one you see in the mirror. It’s about making sacrifices to save lives, to let someone else have more time on earth. Yes, it’s rough. Yes, it’s a struggle. But I know it’s worth it because my family is still alive.
danm50 says
Will the National Guard be distributing masks to citizens of Palm Coast? If not, why not ? Is the public supposed to try to compete to buy equipment we can’t get on Amazon. Masks protect people from spreading the virus but they also protect you from getting it.
Carol says
Why would they provide a mask free to citizens!? Its hard enough for health care workers to get ppe. MASKS DO NO PROTECT YOU from getting the virus. Masks Only help you protect others from getting it from you, slightly.
Wear a face covering like a scarf, gator or homemade mask if you wish to protect others.
If you are wanting a mask to protect yourself, stop being selfish and realize it doesnt work like that.
Danm50 says
Carol. Your logic is flawed ,why do you think Doctors WEAR MASKS! To protect themselves. I am not selfish just demand the right to ppe like Everybody including health care workers.
Ld says
Staying home will protect you more than a mask.
Percy's mother says
I thought the “PEAK” was supposed to be April 21.
I suppose because nothing really has happened yet we’re going to wait to see if a “SURGE” actually will happen.
What if a “SURGE” doesn’t happen by May? Will the “PEAK” then be extended into June?
Kind of like NY.
Gov Cuomo 2 weeks ago was on TV hysterically stating he needed 30,000 ventilators. He did not. Now he’s giving 4000 away. The temporary hospital at the Javits Center in NY was unnecessary, ditto for the military hospital vessel sent by President Trump.
All the above was meant to whip people into hysteria and panic, as evidenced by posts on this website.
Just under 50% of hospital beds and ICU beds are going unused. This was blown way out of proportion.
I was posting on this website several weeks ago that the math was NOT adding up. All anyone had to do from the beginning was do the math and NOT listen to the hype.
Meanwhile, the media is suppressing the fact that Dr. Fauci has been funding the Wuhan scientific facility in China with millions of dollars all along, and that is verifiable. Why is the media suppressing that information?
Chas in PC says
I agree we should take this disease seriously.. However… Have we not learned . The mathematical models , should be used as a guide !! Not an absolute.. At one point . There was supposed to be 100,000 240,000 deaths. Then it magically went 60,000 and it keeps being modified!! We have had 8 hospitalized here in Flagler,in a month since we’ve been locked down.. Lets look at normalcy sooner than later!! Just my opinion : )
Bob Ziolkowski says
At this rate they will not open the beaches until a vaccine is out and there are zero cases, anywhere…still silly.
Ld says
Why are folks in this pic wearing Hospitalgrade PPE. Employees at the hospital are told to reuse their mask which jeopardizes themselves and others. Used masks are medical waste. No wonder employees can’t get PPE they need. Without widespread testing one can only assume all others are infected and keep their distance and really wash their hands frequently. Gloves are NOT a substitute for hand washing. Projections are a WAG.
Nathan P. says
ENOUGH……… I’ve had ENOUGH of this crap. Open the City back up. Open the Beaches, Parks, Schools back up. If you don’t, your going to see a repeat of Michigan Rioting , only worse. We have done our ” Good Boy and Girl ” duties and stayed in for over 1 1/2 months. I for one have already started to “break the rules” and I don’t freaking care !!!!!!
Dianne Goldthorpe says
Well you should care Nathan because by going against the rule your putting yourself and many more people at risk of infection. How will you sleep at night knowing you have potentially spread the virus to others. And those others might be your family friends and neighbors. If you can’t take the heat then find a cave and live in it because no one wants idiots out in the public domain spreading a lethal virus around. You might feel fine now but how do you know your clear of covid19?
Suck it up and behave like the rest of us and stop acting like a 5 year old. Be a responsible person and watch the effect that has on others when they see your doing everything required of society. Be a role model for kids and teens.
Beaches aren’t going anywhere nor are the parks and trails. If your really fed up volunteers are needed at food banks animal shelters and many other places.
Pathetic PC says
We need to open the city and state back up. It’s simple if your vulnerable or sick STAY HOME! Just like the flu. Some of us CAN’T go without a paycheck. Why should everyone else be sent into financial ruin because because of the very small percentage of those that might be effected? This shutdown was not thought out at all. Small businesses and employees can’t survive. The people that actually do work in this town already struggle due to low paying jobs and lack of affordable housing. The city doesn’t care though they only care about their image, reelection, and lining their own pockets. So unless the Mayor and the rest of the city fat cats are going to start paying everyone that the shutdown has screwed out of jobs and businesses then they need to open back up. WE NEED TO WORK WE NEED TO PAY OUR BILLS
Sherry says
How wonderful that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (where Dr. Fauci is the esteemed Director) is involved in studying the ways to reduce global health threats:
New Coronavirus Emerges From Bats in China, Devastates Young Swine
Identified in Same Region, from Same Bats, as SARS Coronavirus
April 4, 2018
Credit: EcoHealth Alliance
A newly identified coronavirus that killed nearly 25,000 piglets in 2016-17 in China emerged from horseshoe bats near the origin of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which emerged in 2002 in the same bat species. The new virus is named swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV). It does not appear to infect people, unlike SARS-CoV which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774. No SARS-CoV cases have been identified since 2004. The study investigators identified SADS-CoV on four pig farms in China’s Guangdong Province. The work was a collaboration among scientists from EcoHealth Alliance, Duke-NUS Medical School, Wuhan Institute of Virology and other organizations, and was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The research is published in the journal Nature.
The researchers say the finding is an important reminder that identifying new viruses in animals and quickly determining their potential to infect people is a key way to reduce global health threats.