The Athens News: Local Agencies Prepare for COVID-19

While no cases of COVID-19 have been reported at Ohio University or in Athens as of March 11, health officials at the University and OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital are taking proactive steps. OU has suspended in-person classes through at least the end of the month. And O’Bleness is prepared in the event a case presents itself at the hospital.

Keely Stockwell, media relations manager for OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital told The Athens News that coronavirus has been on OhioHealth’s radar for the last few months and continues to be a focus of conversations, meetings and planning.

Proactive steps OhioHealth is taking include:

• Screening all patients presenting to OhioHealth’s emergency departments and urgent cares for typical signs and symptoms of COVID-19, along with the patient’s relevant travel history. OhioHealth would draw the labs from those screenings and send them to either the CDC or the Ohio Department of Health for analysis.

• Providing an alert system in OhioHealth’s electronic medical record system to flag any patients who meet screening and travel criteria.

• Using the OhioHealth Emergency Clinical Response Team (ECRT) as “first responders.” This team would be tasked with the safe care of any patient who is identified as having met criteria for COVID-19 testing.

• Having an infection prevention specialist on-call 24/7 to immediately respond to any situation.

You can read more about preparedness in Athens County by clicking on the image for The Athens News below.