Catalina Island Medical Center has stabilized its patient load, stocked up on enough testing protocols for potential island needs and contact testing capacity. The hospital is set to begin bringing physical therapy patients, with new admission procedures.
The update on the hospital was presented to the Avalon City Council on Tuesday, with Dr. Aimee Warren explaining the updates on testing and how they will move forward. Warren said that as they bring patients back into the hospital, there will be new procedures for admission.
“We’ve started a new protocol where we’re going to be testing those patients for COVID before they’re allowed to come back into the facility,” Warren said.
CIMC has been administering antigen (nostril swab) tests to potential COVID infected persons, saying that they have still identified only 2 positive tests, with 14 still pending results. The issue still remains, that there are not enough tests to randomly test everyone, to those who do not show outward symptoms will not be tested.
New antibody tests are becoming more available, but Warren noted that testing someone who does not show symptoms of potential COVID infection, could also convey a false sense of security, as there is the possibility of a false negative. It would also not ensure that someone who is negative, would not be able to contract the virus.
“It doesn’t really give you a lot of valuable information, if you’re asymptomatic, or don’t have any symptoms of coronavirus,” Warren said.
The people who are targets for testing will meet two of four general criteria. Those four factors are if the patient has a fever, respiratory or GI symptoms. Respiratory could include sore throat or trouble breathing. GI symptoms would include vomiting or diarrhea.
They might also test people who are experiencing loss of taste and/or smell or are part of the vulnerable population. The vulnerable population would include people who have traveled to high risk areas, are healthcare workers or have had contact with a COVID patient, or have factors such as age over 60 or have health issues such as diabetes, are pregnant, have heart, lung or kidney disease or are otherwise immunocompromised.
Travel to high risk areas are no longer limited to international travel. Someone with symptoms who has travelled to some Los Angeles county areas, could also require testing.
Antibody testing is being used to try and identify people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and have developed an antibody immunity. People who were sick with some of the major symptoms since January are likely good targets for the antibody test.
However, having had the virus and recovered, does not guarantee that the person might be immune to re-infection. According to the World Health Organization, there is no conclusive evidence that shows a person would be protected against re-infection, as immunity can vary, Warren noted.
“We don’t really know enough about the antibody, and it’s sort of long-term immunity, to speak to that … there’s just a lot of unknowns there,” Warren said.
Ted Apodaca is the editor of the Catalina Islander. He can be reached at editor@thecatalinaislander.com, or at 562-317-1100.
