Ellsworth County is beginning to feel the squeeze as reaction to the coronavirus continues to spread. At Gene’s Heartland Foods, the shelves which ordinarily are home to a supply of toilet paper are bare, and sanitary wipes and other sanitary supplies are in short supply.

“I’m not worried yet,” store manager Ignatius Rodriguez said Monday. “I hope people stay calm and don’t freak out. We’ll take care of them the best we can.”

Rodriguez said he ran out of toilet paper Sunday morning, but expected another shipment Tuesday. He said his supplier has allocated the goods received by stores, so Gene’s is limiting retail purchases to two items of sanitation supplies and paper products.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Andrew Bair, ECMC chief executive officer with 42 years service in the healthcare industry. “I remember the H1N1 and we were very careful then, but I don’t remember it being quite like this.”

Bair said it is important for the public not to panic.

“I think the idea of social isolation is good,” he said. “There are people that are immunocompromised — they have disease processes that make them more vulnerable. Those people know who they are, and they need to stay out of the public as much as they can and kind of self-isolate.”

Bair said the hospital has had a plan all along — one that has been evolving.

“We’re working closely with the health department, EMS, law enforcement and the nursing homes,” he added. “Really, the health department is in charge of what is happening outside of our doors, even though we have a responsibility to the community and our patients, we’re working closely with them to coordinate the care of this community.”

Bair said ECMC has the ability to test for the virus. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommend the hospital do so if those individuals have been traveling in a known hot spot in the world, register a fever of more than 100.4 degrees, have a cough and trouble breathing.

“Then we’ll go ahead and test them for the flu so we’re not wasting all of our coronavirus (testing) on people who just have the flu,” Bair said. “We’re still in flu season — the flu is out there.”

He said the results of a flu test will be known in an hour.

“If that test comes back negative and they still have these symptoms, the plan is then to test them for the coronavirus,” Bair said.

A test sample will be sent to KDHE for testing. The results will be back in a couple of days.

“In the meantime, they (the individual) needs to be quarantined,” Bair said. “We have a plan in which we can do that.”

He said when people arrive at the hospital with flu-like symptoms, they will be asked to wear a mask.

“We want them to wear a mask,” Bair said. “They must wear a mask.”

Call First

Bair said he prefers individuals who have symptoms they think might be the coronavirus to call the hospital’s Rural Health Clinic and set up an appointment.

“Then we can take care of you without exposing other people,” he said.

“If you come to the emergency room, then we’ll take care of it. But the rules around what we can do to keep you isolated are much more difficult. So if you can call ahead we can make an appointment — we can take care of you quickly and discretely, send you on your way and call you with the results.”

Bair said the county health department will monitor the process.

Bair said ECMC has tested a couple of people who thought they might have the flu.

“We can’t talk much about any of that,” he said. “But the volume is minuscule right now.”

Kerianne Ehrlich, county health nurse, did not specify if anyone in Ellsworth County had been tested for the coronavirus. However, she did say there are no positive cases of the coronavirus in the county.

Bair said if a person was to receive a positive test for the coronavirus, they would be sent home and be under quarantine until local health officials have results.

“If it’s negative, they still shouldn’t be out in the community if they’re running a fever and have a cough,” he said. “Whether it’s coronavirus or not, if someone who has a respiratory issue or is on chemotherapy that could be devastating to them — even lethal – if it’s not the coronavirus.”

Bair said it all comes down to being smart.

“If you’re sick, stay home,” he said. “If you need groceries, have someone else drop them by. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face.”

Other health care entities in Ellsworth County are taking precautions as well. Here is a look:

Health Department

Ehrlich said she is working closely with ECMC.

“We’re the main two that are probably going to be involved with any cases that need to be tested,” she said, adding communication is ongoing as well with Ellsworth County Emergency Management, the nursing homes, law enforcement and other community resources.

Ehrlich urged the public to practice good hand hygiene and limit visitation to the elderly as much as possible because they are most vulnerable to the virus.

“We know they still have needs that need to be met,” she said. “But if you’ve traveled or been in large crowds, limit your connection with the elderly population.” Ehrlich said, normally,

Ehrlich said, normally, the health department doesn’t perform testing for the coronavirus or the flu.

“We give the flu vaccine,” she added. “For the Covid 19, we have ordered supplies so if they get overwhelmed and need to step in and help with the testing, we would be able to do that once our supplies came in.”

Ehrlich said the goal is to make sure Ellsworth County is ready when or if the virus (Covid 19) hits.

USD 327

Dale Brungardt, superintendent of the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo USD 327 school district, said the situation is fluid.

“That’s the hard part,” he said. “The news over the last couple of days has changed. There’s lots of things that are happening really fast.”

Given that, Brungardt said he wants the district to remain vigilant, make sure it educates, and thinks things through.

“We don’t want to induce any panic or scare people,” he said. “But we do want to take care of our students and our staff.”

Brungardt said both he and the district nurse, Bonnie Peterman, have visited about the virus for the past three weeks.

He said on March 6 the district posted a statement on the district website encouraging the use of good hand hygiene, coughing into your arm, etc. Information was also sent to the district’s staff.

“Throughout that time frame we’ve been getting guidance from the Kansas State Department of Education and Commissioner Watson (Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson),” he said.

Brungardt said by state statute school will still need to take place.

“We still have to meet a minimum hours of schooling that we have to accomplish,” he said. “That is 1,116 hours. We’re required to do that.”

Brungardt said there are only a few people who have the power to change that requirement. They are the county health department, KDHE, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and President Donald Trump.

Brungardt said USD 327 could call off classes locally, but it would still be responsible for the 1,116 hours.

“However, if the county health department or KDHE say you have an active case in your district and you’re going to close your schools for 14 (calendar) days, at that point we would close school,” he said.

“If we are ordered to close school by those agencies, then it may be for 14 days,” he said.

It could be longer, depending upon the severity of a local outbreak.

If the district couldn’t match that 1,116 hour requirement by the end of the school year, May 22, Brungardt said USD 327 would have to ask for a waiver from the state, or continue going to school until June 30. Or the district could conduct on-line classes.

“Commissioner Watson cautioned us on attempting that because if you are not set up for online learning now, you probably couldn’t meet those demands in that short period of time,” Brungardt said. “We probably would not be able to do that.”

He said most Kansas schools are in the same situation.

If USD 327 went beyond the 14 days and couldn’t match the 1,116 hours, Watson could waive the minimum number of hours. Brungardt said Watson was granted that authority March 12 by the Kansas State Board of Education.

“I’m in the education business,” Brungardt said. “I’m not in the health business. I have to rely on them to give me the good information I need so that I can make good decisions for our students.”

Good Samaritan

Society, Ellsworth

At the Good Samaritan Society Ellsworth village, administrator Kelly Laswell said the facility updated its visitor policy as of March 11 to keep its 43 nursing home residents safe.

“We’re asking family and volunteers not to come visit,” she said. “We’re restricting visitation to keep residents and staff members safe and healthy.”

Laswell said for the first time, health care is being proactive instead of reactive.

She said only employees and essential personnel will be allowed to enter the nursing home.

“We’re working with families who have critical needs on a case-by-case basis,” Laswell added. “The residents who enter our doors become family and we will continue to look out for each other during this time.”

Laswell said the updated visitation policy follows recommendations from the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living.

She said the Good Samaritan Society is asking those residents who live in the assisted living and senior housing units to be cautious about campus visitors.

“Our assisted living members are still allowed to have visitors at this time,” Laswell said. “But we ask anyone who is sick to just stay away.”

She said the Veteran’s Administration also announced a no-visit policy at all of its nursing homes March 11.

Laswell said she is not aware at this time of any Good Samaritan Society resident who has been exposed to the coronavirus and tested positive for it.

She said those who do enter the facility will be screened.

“We encourage all residents and loved ones to connect in any other way possible, including by telephone or video chat,” Laswell said. “We know this is not an ideal situation, but we are facing an illness that is fatal to our population, and we must take critical steps to ensure their safety.”

Wilson Care and Rehab

At Wilson Care and Rehabilitation in Wilson, administrator Lee Ann Arnet has imposed similar restrictions on visitation.

“We had a meeting with our regional office and our corporate office,” she said. “We developed a plan where we are screening visitors before they entered this facility and employees before their shifts.”

That policy was implemented March 6.

Arnet said those wishing to enter the facility should ring the front door bell so they can be met. They are encouraged to use hand sanitizer and wear the face mask that is made available to them. They are also asked to be screened. If they don’t pass the screening, their visitation will be limited until the virus has subsided. If they pass the screening, they are allowed to enter. Arnet said her clinical

Arnet said her clinical reimbursement coordinator met with the county’s emergency management personnel to discuss what the plan would be if the coronavirus were to come to Ellsworth County.

“In the event an emergency medical technician would have to be at our facility for any reason, we would inform them if anybody was experiencing any type of symptoms,” Arnet said. “That way they could be prepared for that as well.”

Candice Horner, director of nursing at Wilson Care and Rehabilitation, said none of the 34 residents or any staff members at the facility are currently experiencing symptoms of the virus.

“We’re going to monitor them just the same,” she said. “If for some reason there was an exposure to the Covid 19 virus, we would reach out to the hospital and managing it from there.”

Meanwhile, Arnet said she is calling family members of the residents and encouraging them to use virtual forms of communication. Arnet agreed residents

Arnet agreed residents at the facility are vulnerable for contracting the coronavirus.

“We’re seeing on the news how it is spreading,” she said. “I think we will just continue to follow any guidelines we receive from the American Healthcare Association, the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As far as being worried about it, I’m confident that as long as we follow what we have put into place, we’re going to do our best to prevent it from entering our facility and take care of those we are charged with.”

ECF

At Ellsworth Correctional Facility, as well as other Kansas Department of Corrections prisons across the state, preparations are also being taken.

In a telephone interview this past week with the Independent-Reporter, Randy Bowman, KDOC executive director of affairs, said the Department of Corrections’ attitude toward coronavirus is “it’s not if, but when and what volume.”

He said every effort is being made to safeguard both inmates and staff members at the state’s prisons.

Bowman said a list of precautions recommended by health care officials has been posted at the facilities for inmates to review. This includes frequent hand washing, coughing into your sleeve and other preventative measures.

He said in the past two weeks, those responsible for planning at each facility have kept updated on what public health officials are recommending. This includes taking an inventory of the number of surgical masks and other available health care materials as well as an inventory of food supplies and possible isolation rooms.

Bowman said if inmates or staff present symptoms of the coronavirus, they will be swabbed and the sample sent to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for testing.

If an outbreak of the virus at a prison is small, the individuals will be placed in isolation. On the other hand, if the outbreak of the virus is large at a prison, Bowman said it could effect operations there.

“We’re doing everything we can to prepare,” he said.

Services Cancelled

On Tuesday, Catholic Bishop Gerald Vincke of the Salina Diocese, which includes the Catholic churches in Ellsworth County, cancelled all masses in the diocese until further notice due to concerns over the virus. This followed a Monday announcement by the CDC urged gatherings of no more than 10 people take place nationwide.

All activities at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Ellsworth have been cancelled for this week, including Wednesday’ Lenten services, meals or classes through Lent, as well as the March 22 worship service. Starting March 29, the church will have different service times for people to register for. Services will be capped at 50 people. Call Pastor Luke Brown, (620) 786-5001 for more information.

Pastor Amy Jo Hawley at Ellsworth’s First Presbyterian Church will offer only online services streaming on Facebook at 10:30 a.m. Sundays. Those who don’t have Facebook can call the church, (785) 472-5557, for a link. Hawley said she is also reaching out to those without internet access to offer prayer and connection by telephone.