Henrico up to 250 confirmed COVID-19 cases
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Henrico County’s confirmed number of COVID-19 cases is now approximately 250, Henrico Health Director Danny Avula said during a press briefing Monday evening – though the state’s health commissioner suggested earlier today that statewide numbers likely are higher than reported.
“There are many people who have COVID-19 who are walking around in our community,” State Health Commissioner Norm Oliver said.
Officially, the county has experienced 26 virus-related deaths, though as of Monday, the Canterbury Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center had reported 28 alone among its residents. In total, 114 residents and 26 staff members at the center have tested positive, Avula said.
As the virus has spread throughout Virginia, “official” counts of how many people have been tested, confirmed positive, hospitalized and even died have been confusing to calculate. That’s in part because as more independent sites begin testing, there is a delay in when the state receives some of those results, Avula said.
Last Thursday night, Avula told reporters that Henrico had 205 confirmed cases of the virus. But not until this morning did the state’s confirmed case count for Henrico rise to that level (207). (The state totals are released at 9 a.m. daily but are based upon the data available at 5 p.m. the previous day.) Hours later today, Avula said the county had about 250 confirmed cases.
Quickly confirming deaths caused by the virus is challenging too, Avula said. His department’s staffers are attempting to follow the progress and condition of each of the 350 or so confirmed positive patients from Henrico and Richmond (which Avula also oversees). Sometimes they don’t hear about a death until it’s reported in the media, he said.
VHHA site tracks hospitalizations
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association has launched a website that provides a running set of data about the number of patients hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 and the number hospitalized with potential symptoms of the virus whose test results haven’t come back yet. The state’s department of health Monday morning reported 497 current hospitalizations, but Monday evening the VHHA’s site reported 538 among known infected patients and another 656 among patients with virus-related symptoms.
Of those hospitalized in both groups, a total of 285 patients currently are using ventilators, the VHHA reported. That’s about one-quarter of all available ventilators in the state (2,566).
Monday evening, Avula told reporters that he and other state officials continue to discuss with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans for a field hospital at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The makeshift hospital there is likely to accommodate non-acute care patients who have survived the worst of the virus but still need medical support of some type, he said. That would free up hospital beds for other patients who need urgent care.
The facility could be ready within 3 to 5 weeks, Avula said. It could hold as many as 758 non-acute patients, state officials said last week.
‘Tremendous strides’ in social distancing
Avula praised the efforts of local residents, saying most have taken the stay-at-home and social distancing orders seriously.
“I think we’ve made tremendous strides in terms of social distancing,” he said.
The Henrico and Richmond health districts earlier Monday launched the #StayHomeRVA campaign, encouraging local residents to continue those efforts.
Avula concurred with the Centers for Disease Control’s recent suggestion that anyone in public wear a mask of some type. Wearing cloth masks in public is a good idea, he said, but not to protect yourself.
“The point of masks is really not to protect you from others but really to protect others from you," he said. "These [cloth] masks aren’t going to protect you, necessarily.”
Eleven long-term care facilities in Henrico and Richmond currently have confirmed cases of the virus or suspected clusters, Avula said. At the Canterbury facility, officials are treating all residents and staffers as if they have it, he said.
Asked what efforts could help reduce further deaths there, Avula was indecisive. He cited some recent evidence that the drug championed by President Trump in recent days – hydroxychloroquine, commonly used to treat lupus and malaria – could be an option.
“While the data is not overwhelmingly great about that, it’s a possibility maybe that’s worth trying,” he said. "I’m not super hopeful given the marginal-at-best data that we’ve seen, but it may be worth a try for some patients."
