By Ashley McCarty
The most recent coronavirus updates from the Adams County Health Department were a sobering reminder of the unrelenting nature of COVID-19 in the county.
Since the introduction of COVID-19 in the county, there have been 445 total cases as of Nov. 12, with 201 active cases. That is an increase of 133 cases since a previous update on Nov. 5.
Seven lives in the county have now been claimed by the virus; six people are currently hospitalized.
“Adams County, as has the state of Ohio, has noticed an extraordinary increase in cases of COVID-19, and that’s rather alarming when you combine it with the increased hospital utilization in this region,” said Adams County Health Commissioner Dr. William Hablitzel.
Two counties in Ohio are threatening to turn purple — Adams County may not be far behind. Currently, under the Public Health Advisory System, Adams County is red, indicating high exposure and spread.
“I think we’ll continue to be red for awhile, but one of the indicators used in that system looks at the new cases per capita. So, in each county they take the number of new cases over a two week average, and then they calculate those new cases based on a population of 100,000. Now, we don’t have 100,000 people in Adams County. We’re at 27,800, around there somewhere. So, some numbers are adjusted upwards, others are adjusted downwards, and why that’s valuable so we can compare counties directly,” said Hablitzel.
With this system, Adams County can be directly compared to counties with considerably larger populations, such as Hamilton County.
“This week’s data that was published shows that there has been a change, and the indicator for new cases per capita that the [Ohio Department of Health] looks at is if we’re over 50 cases per 100,000. Then they sort of check that indicator as being one of the seven indicators that they look at to help judge what our risk is in the county. The CDC defines high incidence as being more than 100 cases per 100,000; today, it was published for Nov. 12, the new cases per capita in Adams County is 556 per 100,000. That is a dramatic increase. That is the highest of any county in Southwest Ohio,” said Hablitzel.
Hamilton County is 446 per 100,000; Adams County is 556.
“That shows how much this virus is spreading throughout Adams County. At this rate, at the pace and the number of cases that we’re notified of in Adams County, [it] has exceeded our capacity to follow up with each individual case. There’s not enough personnel to call each — we like to follow not only cases, but we like to trace where they’ve been and sort of alert people that may have been exposed — and like many counties have experienced many weeks earlier, you get to a point where you can no longer do that,” said Hablitzel.
As opposed to one or two cases, they are now coming in by the dozens, he said.
“ That’s a reflection of what’s going on in the community. If we want to have schools open, if we want to have businesses open, if we want to protect those among us that have health problems, we have to do a better job of simple things we can do as individuals that have been proven to decrease the spread. These are fairly simple things that we can do; we can avoid groups of people, we can wear a mask when we’re in public,” said Hablitzel.
According to Hablitzel, there is an abundance of science now which proves that masks do help decrease the spread and transmission of COVID-19; it helps not only the wearer from contracting it, but also spreading it. Combined with hand washing and social distancing, these are effective ways to reduce community spread.
“There’s a lot of this going on throughout the community. The genie is out of the bottle, we’re not going to be able to get the genie back in the bottle, so we have to protect people from picking this up from others and help prevent others from sharing it,” said Hablitzel.
The trend in people who have contracted the illness has been groups of people, such as sleepovers and communal gatherings.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a lot of spread through churches, because that’s where we go as a group, and many of our church congregations have a disproportionate share of older individuals or people with health risks that may be at greater risk of having severe illness as opposed to mild illness. So, it’s in the community, and anywhere people gather in large groups, there is this risk. We look ahead to the next couple of weeks of Thanksgiving; many families will be gathering. This will be a very prime environment for the spread of this virus, so I think we need to be cautious when we’re making plans for Thanksgiving and the holidays,” said Hablitzel.
Hablitzel suggests utilizing new technology; cellular phones and video chatting to keep in contact, and limiting seasonal celebrations to smaller groups of people that can social distance.
While cases are on the rise, coronavirus deaths have slowed down, which Hablitzel attributes to better medicine and new approaches to dealing with the critically ill. The threat of coronavirus is no less severe, however.
“I’m hearing a lot of older individuals — and even some younger individuals — in the hospital. I’m aware of a couple of individuals in intensive care settings, on ventilators, on renal dialysis machines, and I’m hearing some of those individuals who you would never have expected to survive are entering rehab and are probably going to survive, but they have a long road ahead of them,” said Hablitzel.
There can be profound illness short of death that will forever change their life, he added.
“You take someone, and you get ill and you spend a month in the hospital, and it takes many months of rehabilitation to get back to where you were. Some people never get back to that point, but they’re alive. The concern remains that many people, after they’ve had infection, there are lingering problems that we really don’t know what the consequences will be in three or six months. There can be damage to lungs, to the heart, there can be damage to kidneys. So, we don’t know what the consequences are going to be longterm,” said Hablitzel.
With those lingering question marks, the best approach is to simply prevent infection in the first place.
Hablitzel recognizes that statewide, people are tired, they want their lives back.
“When you look and you see statistics where there’s 6,000 people reporting new illnesses, but maybe 50 deaths, 60 deaths statewide, well that’s — that’s really not a bad number, that’s no big deal. Most people do reasonably well with this, they’ll have mild illness, maybe no symptoms at all, but there’s one or two out of a hundred that may become profoundly ill. How do you measure that risk when you can’t predict [it],” said Hablitzel.
It is a measure of the community and a society when we are more concerned about others than ourselves, he said.
“Just because it’s only going to be one or two that may get seriously ill, is that a reason not to care for them? I guess that’s the question we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves. Is it worth inconveniencing myself by having to wear a mask, is it work deciding not to have that sleepover for the kids, to not have that fun, is it too big of a price to pay for helping the older lady next door? Or protecting your parents from becoming seriously ill,” said Hablitzel.
Is that too much to ask to be part of our community?, he proposes.
“I think those are the questions we need to ask ourselves. The state can’t mandate that; Governor [Mike] DeWine cannot say that you are hereby ordered to care for your family, to have compassion for your neighbor. That’s what we’re talking about here,” said Hablitzel.
On Nov. 11, Gov. DeWine urged Ohioans to recommit to their individual efforts to prevent coronavirus spread.
“He wanted to get everyone’s attention, and I think his focus is more targeted, that we need to do a better job at wearing masks. I think his message was that people have a right to be able to go to work and be safe, and that’s hard to do if you’re at a business and none of the customers are wearing masks. You can make a decision for your family, that you want to keep your family safe, but if you have to work in an environment where you’re being exposed by other families, I think people have a right to be safe,” said Hablitzel.
While the word “economy” has become nebulous and depersonalized, DeWine recognizes the hardship concerning it, he said.
“The economy is your livelihood. The neighborhood business, if they can’t work they can’t provide for their families, they can’t contribute to the community. I think they’re very concerned about that, I don’t think they want to do too much, but I think what we heard with his speech was a recognition that the approach we’re using now, placing all of the burden on our citizens isn’t working too well. So, we have a couple of choices — as members of the community, we either step up and do a better job protecting everyone else, or the government is going to restrict more of our activities,” said Hablitzel.
DeWine realizes that the case numbers are going up so high that something needs to be done, he said.
“You look at mask compliance, since there’s more we can do, how do we get people to do better? So, I think he certainly spoke to the state, alerting them of this problem, and hoping that more people will step up. If enough do that, maybe we won’t need to do the other steps, but right now, if we want to keep our schools open — you know, the schools are a reflection of our community. They’re impacted by the community, and if the community around the school has such high spread, we’re seeing a lot of students have to be quarantined, a lot of teachers are being quarantined; not because they’ve picked up infection in the school, but because they’ve been exposed to illness in the community. If you don’t have teachers, you can’t run a school. So, that’s at risk,” said Hablitzel.
A risk and concern soon realized, as the Adams County Ohio Valley School District returned to virtual learning on Nov. 16.
Superintendent Richard Seas said the closure was a decision made based on data.
“Dr. Hablitzel shared some data with me that was rather alarming. The positivity rate for the student population — that being five to 17-years-old — was hovering around two to three percent. Well, what he shared with me was that it was about nine percent. I think now it’s up 10 percent, which means that spread going on in that age group. [That] is problematic for us because it encompasses our student body. Well, if that spread continues through that age group, it gets carried on to perhaps mom or dad, grandma or grandpa, aunt and uncle or whomever. People in our community need to mask up and follow the safety protocols that’s out there,” said Seas.
ACOVSD will not return to traditional schooling until Dec. 10.
“Again, our perspective needs to change a little bit. It’s not only when you look in the mirror, asking how do I keep myself safe. You have to also want to keep people you come in contact with — your family, your friends, those you don’t even know — you need to feel that you want to keep them safe, too, and that’s what’s easy to lose sight of. I think most people want to help the community, and this is an opportunity [to see] how much they can actually make a difference,” said Hablitzel.
Hablitzel hopes the address made by DeWine may stir the community to be more responsible.
“Sometimes we become complacent, and we don’t perceive the problem affecting us, that this is a problem in big cities, but the problem is here now. A higher percentage of our community is infected than any other county in Southwest Ohio. This is no longer someone else’s problem, it is here, and it’s only by the luck of the draw that when you become ill it will only be a mild illness as opposed to a serious illness, and who wants to take that risk for themselves or for someone else,” said Hablitzel.
Currently, Moderna, Inc., has a vaccine in the works that appears to be 94.5 percent effective, according to preliminary data. Pfizer, Inc., also has a COVID-19 vaccine which is reportedly similarly as effective. This lends hope to the community that relief may be on the horizon.
“The companies are busy trying to make sure we have a vaccine available and that way as soon as it’s approved by the FDA, we’ll have it and can immediately start using it, but we’re talking a big job, providing a vaccine for everyone in the country. There obviously won’t be enough initially, and so we’ll have to target high-risk groups first; older people, those with preexisting health conditions, first responders, healthcare workers, those on the front lines, and that will be a big logistics challenge,” said Hablitzel.
Storage may also be a problem, as Pfizer, Inc.’s vaccine has to be kept at minus 75 degrees Celsius — or about minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit. No other vaccine in the US needs to be kept that cold, and doctors’ offices and pharmacies do not have freezers that go that low. Moderna, Inc.’s vaccine can be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius.
If these vaccines are effective, and enough people are immunized, eventually the virus may die out.
“I think this is the time for the community to step up. I know we’re tired, but this is the time where we have the ability to make an impact in the community. This is the time where each of us can do something to help make the community safer and better, and I would urge everyone to have that personal talk with themselves — is this something I can do for myself, and for others,” said Hablitzel.
