Health officials reflect on one year anniversary of coronavirus in Idaho

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)-One year ago Saturday, Idaho had its first confirmed Covid-19 case.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Richard Nathan recalls those early days.

"When we first had the outbreak, it really started in Ketchum, which became national news, it was a huge super spreader event." Continues Nathan "It's been crazy, especially the last oh I guess six months. Because after the first case we started getting more and more cases, and it's been just absolutely crazy. We've had to make all sorts of emergency plans in the hospitals at the local level and just make adjustments in all of our behavior. And it's been a struggle for a lot of people."

Whitney Cooley, the director of pharmacy at Mountain View Hospital experienced some of those changes first hand.

"We got to be involved early on, our pharmacy at Mountain View and ICH and were also affiliated with TCI." Explains Cooley "When we ran out of hand sanitizer, one of the things that came out was you could make sanitizer from alcohol, so we did a little bootlegging and got alcohol from distilleries and were able to start off with a bang last year. This time last year we were starting to compound sanitizer at the pharmacy."

However, with cases staring to go up in parts of eastern Idaho, Dr. Nathan reflected on the early days in the hospital, and what they're seeing now.

"The hospital was flooded. We had an entire floor just for Covid patients, and the majority of the intensive care unit was patients with Covid." Explains Nathan "But right now we're also having another peak, and we have a Covid floor right now, and several patients in the intensive care unit with Covid. And it's not as bad as it was before, especially since we've relaxed a little bit, because we have some treatments, and a lot of vaccinated staff."

Cooley and her team were some of the behind the scenes heroes in the early days.

"We had some medication trials here with the infectious disease doctors and seeing, okay, will this help? Will this work with Covid." Continues Cooley "And then also hydroxychloroquine, an old generic, will this help, steroids, will this help, do we use steroids, do we not use steroids. Making sure the high flow oxygen, longer IV lines do we keep them outside the patients rooms, with the pump?"

And now with multiple vaccines out and available, they're on the frontlines.

"It's like liquid gold. We've stayed till one in the morning trying to make sure that we had that last dose administered cause somebody was coming on at midnight and everybody else had been vaccinated." Explains Cooley "Or you know, we've gone to extreme lengths to make ensure that we do not waste. This is one of the most positive things that the year long haul, you know it's been a marathon, not a sprint. And every time you think I need some rest, I need some rest, and something happens, I've seen these people dig deep. And the vaccine clinic, people feel good about doing it. They go there and they're like we are making a difference. And it's awesome."

Nathan also reminds people to continue to wear masks and social distance, even after they've been vaccinated.

"I think we'll get to a point where there's going to be less spread." Says Nathan "But what you don't want to do, even if you have a very small chance after vaccination of having the virus, carrying the virus, you don't really want to infect your 90 year old grandmother with the coronavirus and potentially kill them."