County health department, PCH give update on COVID-19 response

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Though the latest update on the COVID-19 pandemic reveals no cases in Putnam County, the local health department and Putnam County Hospital continue to work together on a response to the threat and the high likelihood that it will reach Putnam County soon.

The Putnam County Health Department issued a statement late Thursday morning letting the community know there are still no COVID-19 cases in the county, shortly after the Indiana State Departement of Health (ISDH) had released the same information.

Responding to the ever-changing situation, though, the hospital updated its visitor restrictions as of Wednesday.

Inpatients, those individuals in inpatient, observation or a swing bed, are now allowed one or two visitors. These visitors must be put on a list that will be kept at the entry way.

When visitors enters the building they will be greeted by a screener and asked to give their name. If the name is not on the list, the person will not be permitted to visit the patient at that time.

There will be no visitors under the age of 18 permitted at this time.

Individuals at the hospital for an outpatient appointment should plan to keep accompanying visitors to a bare minimum.

On Thursday, the hospital also changed its visitor restrictions for the emergency room. Currently, no visitors are allowed in the emegency department.

Emergency room visitors are even discouraged from waiting in the lobby. If a visitor must remain in the lobby, he or shee will be asked to observe social distancing by remaining at least six feet from other persons.

Exceptions to the policy will include allowing one visitor for patients who are disoriented or require assistance for communication or safety. Children under the age of 18 may have one parent at the bedside.

All traffic of visitors and control of the lobby will be managed by the nursing staff and the emergency department physicians. Family members and visitors of emergency department patients will be kept informed of their loved ones via cell phone according to patient wishes.

“We understand that it is difficult for families to be separated during times of illness,” a PCH spokesperson said. “All visitors will be treated with respect and empathy. “

Hospital officials wish to assure the public that the updated policies have been put in place to protect the community and hospital employees and providers.

By enacting such polices, Putnam County Hospital continues to follow CDC and ISDH recommendations.

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  • I would be interested in seeing numbers of how many Putnam county residents have been actually tested for the virus?

    -- Posted by kbmom on Thu, Mar 19, 2020, at 12:58 PM
  • *

    I would be interested in seeing how many Putnam County residents were tested for Influenza (and tested negative) between Dec 1, 2019 and January 31st, 2020...

    And would be even more interested to see if those people would now test positive for SARS-CoV-2.

    -- Posted by dreadpirateroberts on Thu, Mar 19, 2020, at 1:44 PM
  • It's pretty sad that all this testing that's getting sent to hospitals it still hasn't made its way to Putnam County for our residents to get tested they just get told to self quarantine themselves

    -- Posted by wilsonheidi26 on Thu, Mar 19, 2020, at 7:48 PM
  • I agree! I asked Congressman Baird at his virtual town hall today how many Putnam County residents have been tested. He did not know. I asked the Putnam County Health Office on Monday via email the same question. No reply.

    Congressman Baird also did not provide an answer about when Putnam County residents would have ready access to testing.

    We need a drive-through testing operation as soon as possible so that we can work together to control the threat this virus poses to our community.

    -- Posted by SamJohnson on Fri, Mar 20, 2020, at 12:49 PM
  • My wife was sick earlier this year ( a person at church hugged her and then announced that she was sick), a week or so later my wife had fever, sinus issues, and a deep cough. She actually got to coughing up blood. The doctor treated her with antibiotics and gave her a flu test which came back negative. She was so sick for about 2 solid weeks. She had x-rays to check for Pneumonia and it was negative . Covid-19 ?? I have to wonder??

    -- Posted by Workingthesoil on Fri, Mar 20, 2020, at 6:00 PM
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