Businesses, medical community respond to COVID-19

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are already felt in Southeast Missouri without any confirmed cases.

The latest casualty of COVID-19 in the area is the postponement of Tuesday’s appearance of the Harlem Globetrotters at the Black River Coliseum, a decision that was announced Thursday evening. The Globetrotters suspended all planned games at least through March 19, which could be extended through April 19 next week.

“The Globetrotters encourage all ticket holders to hold on to tickets, as the team will make every effort to reschedule as soon as possible. All tickets for postponed games will be honored,” according to a statement by the group.

The cancellation is one of many nationwide that is designed to minimize large gatherings, which have been shown to facilitate the spread of the virus.

Another local impact is the Poplar Bluff girls basketball quarterfinal scheduled for today, which will be played with essential personnel only. Check out darnews.com for livestream details and game updates.

Several area medical facilities are screening or prohibiting visitors, among them Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center and the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. PBRMC is currently restricting visitors, while the VA is pre-screening anyone who enters the hospital.

Anyone who wishes to enter the VA is being asked if they have a fever, a worsening cough or flu-like symptoms, if they traveled to China, Japan, Italy, Iran or South Korea in the last two weeks, and if they have been in close contact with anyone that has coronavirus.

The Saint Francis Healthcare and SoutheastHEALTH systems announced Friday afternoon that both would limit the number of visitors per patient to two until further notice. No visitors under the age of 12 will be permitted and all will be screened upon entry.

For Saint Francis no visitors will be permitted to for adult ICU and isolation patients and only one will be permitted for emergency patients. They also recommended that anyone over the age of 55 not visit Saint Francis Medical Center.

Both facilities have also suspended volunteer services until further notice and will limit to only essential vendors.

At Saint Francis, valet services have been suspended. On-site mass and perpetual eucharistic adoration are cancelled and will be held at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cape Girardeau instead. Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday.

At SouthestHEALTH all sponsored events will have been postponed to limit group congregation.

This includes the Volunteer Recruitment Luncheon scheduled for March 25, Senior Super scheduled for March 26 and the Patient Experience Extravaganza scheduled for April 22.

An attendant will be stationed at the entrance of each SoutheastHealth clinic on West Campus, Cancer Center, Broadway Campus and Doctors Park in Cape Girardeau, Southeast Primary Care and Southeast Convenient Care in Jackson.

These attendants will ask patients about travel and symptoms related to the coronavirus. These patients will be taken to a designated waiting room and tested for COVID-19 in a designated exam room. They will first be checked for flu and/or strep. If those are both negative, medical professionals will conduct a respiratory panel. Only if that comes back negative will COVID-19 be tested for.

“As we have from the outset of this emerging medical situation, we are following protocols as set forth by the CDC and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services,” system officials said in a statement. “These precautionary measures are meant to help keep everyone in our community as safe as possible.”

Hospitals are not the only ones taking pre-emptive measures — so are nursing homes. Joetta Martin, the administrator at Westwood Hills Health and Rehabilitation Center, said the facility is on lockdown to prevent residents from being infected with COVID-19.

“We have already restricted visitors,” Martin said Thursday afternoon. “We’re on what I call a lockdown. The door is locked, and we have to go to the door to let people in.

“No families, no visitors from the outside and no vendors (are allowed in). If a vendor shows up, we meet them outside. If they’re delivering something, we get it from them and bring it in.”

Martin said Westwood Hills is currently limiting entry to staff, hospice nurses and medical technicians — and even they have to have their temperature taken and fill out a screening form.

If a staff member has a temperature of 100 or higher, they will be sent home and cannot return without a physician’s authorization.

Also, Westwood Hills is wiping doorknobs and handrails hourly with bleach wipes, plus cleaning and disinfecting rooms every day.

Martin has been at Westwood Hills for 30 years and, she said, she has never had to do anything like this.

“Our thought here is we are taking care of the most vulnerable people here — the elderly — and they already have some type of illness, and in many cases, several chronic diseases,” Martin said. “They are the ones it will hit the hardest and are at the most risk of death.”