As leaders warn the nation about what could be the peak period of the COVID-19 crisis in the next two weeks, Whitfield County Emergency Management Director Claude Craig said Tuesday his agency has the capability of setting up a field hospital with 150 beds, if needed.
“It would take a little bit of work, but we could get it set up in a short length of time, I believe,” Mr.
Craig said during Whitfield County’s latest conference call televised on the county’s website.
Right now, officials stress that Hamilton Medical Center has sufficient space and supplies to take care of all its patients, he said.
Nevertheless, Mr. Craig believes it’s critical for residents to stay home as much as possible during the next two weeks, in particular. “The next 10 to 14 days are going to be the most serious days that we have about the spread of this very contagious virus,’ he said. “We need to shelter in place, we need to stay home, we need to do our part and distance ourselves in a time of emergency - and we are in an emergency.”
Citing the latest official statistics on the coronavirus released at noon Mr. Craig said there have been 21 positive tests and one death in the county. Since reporting at the last teleconference call on April 2, Mr. Craig said statewide the number of positive cases has climbed by more than 5,000, jumping to 8,818 from 3,470, the number of hospitalized victims has gone up by 718 to 1,774 and the number of deaths has doubled, to 329.
“I think our hospital numbers are going to continue to go up and our positive cases are going to continue to go up because we’re doing more testing,” he said. “Please, please, just stay at home. If you need to go to the grocery store, all seven of you don’t need to go – one person can go. Just take heed and do your part, and we will get through this. Somehow, some way by the grace of God, we will get through this.”
Helping guide local officials during the crisis is a pandemic plan that Whitfield County first adopted in 2005, Mr. Craig said.
The plan is a “constant work in progress,” he said, “because of the ever-changing evolution of medicine and emergency management.”
Emergency managers are students of disaster, according to Mr. Craig. Once this crisis is over, he said, “We will take what happened in this event and we will get five or six of us around a table and we will dissect that into different parts to figure out what went right, what went wrong, what we can do better next time or what we don’t need to do next time.”
Commission Chairman Lynn Laughter, who hosted the teleconference, praised the county’s first responders for their on-going efforts during the emergency. “Our fire department, sheriff’s office, 911, EMA are all working,” she said. “Your emergency needs are going to be taken care of.”
With Tuesday being World Health Day, she said it was an especially appropriate time to send “a special thank you to our first responders not only for their sacrifices now but all year long.”
Commissioner Laughter said that Governor Brian Kemp’s executive order for sheltering in place is scheduled to expire April 13, but even if it is not extended, the county’s resolution with restrictive guidelines would remain in effect through April 30.
She urged residents to stay at home as much as possible, maintain social distancing when in public, wash their hands frequently to help fight the spread of the virus, take part in physical activity such as walking, and avoid becoming fixated on the news 24/7.
Tune in Thursday at 5 p.m. for another live teleconference call at https://livestream.com/accounts/25637515/events/7960637/videos/204211960. Past teleconferences can also be viewed at the same site.