COVID-19 Press Release: April 1, 2020

COVID-19 Update: April 1, 2020

This is a daily joint communication from the Sangamon County Department of Public Health along with Memorial Health System, HSHS St. John’s Hospital, Springfield Clinic and SIU Medicine updating you on the status of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Sangamon County. This communication will come each day as necessary.

At the time of this press release,the total number of confirmed cases between our five organizations is seventeen, including two deaths. Currently, four of the confirmed positive cases are hospitalized at Memorial Medical Center.

Memorial Medical Center has four inpatients currently under investigation

HSHS St. John’s Hospital has nine inpatients currently under investigation.

Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in Homes
Household members and caregivers in a non-healthcare setting may have close contact with a person who is symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, or a person under investigation. Close contacts should monitor their health; they should call their healthcare provider right away if they develop symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (e.g., fever, cough, shortness of breath). Close contacts should also follow these recommendations below and visit https://www.cdc.gov for more information.

• Make sure that you understand and can help the patient follow their healthcare provider’s instructions for medication(s) and care. You should help the patient with basic needs in the home and provide support for getting groceries, prescriptions, and other personal needs.
• Monitor the patient’s symptoms. If the patient is getting sicker, call his or her healthcare provider and tell them that the patient has laboratory-confirmed COVID-19.
• Household members should stay in another room or be separated from the patient as much as possible. Household members should use a separate bedroom and bathroom, if available.
• Prohibit visitors who do not have an essential need to be in the home.
• Perform hand hygiene frequently. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95% alcohol.
• Avoid sharing household items with the patient. You should not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding, or other items.
• Clean all “high-touch” surfaces, such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables, every day.

Let There Be Light

Join others across the nation at 7 p.m. this evening and place a lit candle outside your home in support of our healthcare colleagues and medical providers. Let this offer support to the many doctors, nurses and medical professionals working to aid others through the COVID-19 Outbreak.

PPE Guidance

Personal protective equipment guidance will change over time based on the most current evidence, CDC and IDPH guidance and the level of disease activity in our community. All of our health care organizations are actively monitoring CDC guidelines and updating our practices as recommended.

Currently, that guidance does not call for the use of masks by staff members in non-clinical care settings, provided that they are not in contact with others for more than 10 minutes or at a distance of less than six feet. Our staffs have been directed to practice social distancing and hand hygiene.

In some clinical settings even patients considered at low risk of COVID-19 are being required to wear masks, care providers also wear masks and eye protection.

Higher levels of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) are required when treating patients who are suspected of having COVID-19, or who have not been fully evaluated. The safety of our colleagues is paramount, and our organizations have the necessary PPE equipment.