Warren County Health Department Administrator Jenna Link says although the state has not tracked recoveries, her office has in Warren County.
“So we follow them through their recovery. We are checking back in with them to make sure their symptoms are improving and working with them to get them released and permission to go back to work. With our caseload, we are at 113 cases, no new ones for today, but we are able to have that connection with our community and follow individuals. Make sure they are recovering and not needing any additional medical attention,” Link states.
As of yesterday, 457 tests are confirmed negative. Currently our region is set to move to Phase 3 of the Governor’s plan late next week.
The Warren County Health Department has been working directly with Smithfield Foods through the pandemic. Administrator Jenna Link says Smithfield faced hurdles and challenges at first getting access to personal protection equipment.
“About a 30 percent positivity and that did not happen. Numbers have been good and hopefully they were very proactive in making the changes. They were finally able to have access to face shields and surgical masks. In the beginning stages, those items were held for healthcare and so if you were not a healthcare facility, you were not allowed to order those things. There were several hurdles and challenges that made it a little difficult for the plant to react in the manner they wanted, but once those things were in place, extensive screening before employees come in, those that are ill are kept out of work for up to fourteen days as symptoms resolve. We worked closely with them to identify close contacts. I feel like they were pretty proactive and hopefully we were ahead of it and got things slowed down,” Link reports.
