COVID-19 case numbers rise as health officials seek reliable tests
JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK)-St. John's Health CEO Dr. Paul Beaupre says he is postponing testing of health care workers and emergency first responders for COVID-19 antibody information until a reliable community platform can be selected.
As of the close of business Friday, there were 53 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Teton County, Wyoming. According to the Wyoming Department of Health, another 19 cases are described as "probable", meaning they have had close contacts of lab-confirmed cases with symptoms consistent with the virus.
In Lincoln County, there were four of each category. Wyoming, altogether, had 253 lab-confirmed cases and 87 probable cases. Aside from Laramie County (58), the largest number of confirmed cases in the state have been in Teton County.
Despite an upsurge in new cases, St. John's Hospital in Jackson did not transport any patients to Idaho Falls or Salt Lake City. Both Idaho Falls and Salt Lake City hospitals have told St. John's they have capacity to help, if necessary.
The hospital has expanded its Intensive Care Unit in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 patients. The hospital is operating an isolation ICU for COVID related patients and a second ICU in a separate wing for other critical care patients. Visitor restrictions remain in force.
The hospital's primary goal is widespread testing, since that would help protect healthcare workers and patients. But, because of inconsistent access at testing laboratories to personal protection eqipment (PPE), test swabs, test kits, and chemical regents to run the tests, the people being tested are prioritized under certain criteria.
In his weekly report, CEO Dr. Paul Beaupre said, "I believe that antibody testing will ultimately provide valuable information, including when it is safe for individuals and businesses to resume normal activity. There are several important considerations, and I caution the community not to leap too quickly to testing platforms that will fail to meet our needs. I caution you that this has happened in other towns."
Beaupre said international researchers agree the tests being evaluated currently do not yet have reliable accuracy.
"I am encouraging the community to establish an independent, qualified panel of people who do not have financial ties to any of the commercially available platforms," said Beaupre. "This panel should be charged with quickly evaluating and deciding which platform would be best to use."
At that time, he said, the community can muster resources to obtain and implement a testing program.
