A Community, A Public Health Partnership
by Penny Ablin MD, Larry Marum MD MPH, Elizabeth Marum PhD, Jim Mosson MD, and S. Todd Stolp MD
April 20, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken us all with its rapid spread, destructive disease and high death rate. There is much we have learned quickly, but also much that we do not yet fully understand. Efforts to contain this pandemic have quickly had dramatic impacts on our society and economy.
With an aging population and high number of homeless, we in the Sierra foothills are especially vulnerable. A vibrant tourism industry that brings people from all over the world and residents who commute outside the county add to our risks for a local outbreak. Our beautiful outdoors and low population density are local advantages, but dangerous attractions. It is important to remember that our clinical care system has a limited reserve capacity to respond to a surge.
Nationally we have had devastating outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes, but, so far, the early restriction of visitors to our assisted living facilities and other preventive measures here have helped to prevent similar local outbreaks. There are over 1100 skilled nursing and assisted living residents in Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties and it is our collective duty to maintain efforts to protect them.
Prisons across the nation have also had deadly COVID-19 outbreaks. In Tuolumne County alone, there are an estimated 4200 persons incarcerated, and nearly 1000 prison and jail staff. Careful adherence to precautionary measures must continue to protect prison inmates, staff, and their families.
Compliance with personal and social measures has been shown to have critical benefits in reducing the rapid spread of this epidemic. Since there are no vaccines available now or in the near future and no medications yet proven to be effective against the virus, public health measures are the strongest weapons we have to fight the spread of the virus today.
As local physicians and public health professionals, we strongly urge a balanced approach that protects public health and mitigates economic hardships as we confront the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines of county Public Health Departments have had a beneficial effect in protecting our county and containing the few cases introduced from outside our borders. Until we have more tools to control the epidemic and more testing capability to detect cases in the community, it is too early to stop these measures. Recognizing the importance of commerce to the economy, health departments are actively developing strategies to provide specific businesses with guidance that will allow them to again open to the public when it is reasonably safe to do so.
Accepting dramatic changes to our lives and livelihoods requires great patience on everyone’s part to maintain a rational and determined defense against the COVID-19 virus. The price of this is high…missing personal contact with family and friends, doing without services that are normally a part of daily life, loss of much needed income…but the reward is to save lives in our communities.
Getting our local economy and services up and running is of vital importance, but we urge the public to support and work with local public health officials. We are all grateful for the sacrifices and selfless actions of local businesses and non-profit organizations that have so generously helped with food and other support for those in need in our community. We appreciate the dedication and care of our first responders, health care workers and essential workers who are literally risking their lives and those of their families in this war against the virus. We also appreciate the work required of local government to organize a response. It will take us all working together on many levels to get beyond the pandemic and its devastating toll on all aspects of life in the Sierra foothills. Please join us in staying safe.