Community COVID update full of promise

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A meeting of the Board of County Commissioners Monday included an enlightening and encouraging update on the current COVID conditions in Teton County, and when progress toward easing restrictions might be realized.

Health officials participating in the Zoom meeting this morning included District Health Officer Dr. Travis Riddell, Health Department director Jodie Pond, current CEO of St. John’s Health Dave Robertson, former CEO Dr. Paul Beaupre, and District Health board chair Dr. Dan Foreman.

Riddell shared encouraging statistics and anecdotal evidence that Teton County is making progress toward easing restrictions and the world, as well, could begin to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror as metrics trend favorable with each report. Riddell said most modeling he’s seen are not predicting a winter surge, and other indications—such as nationwide blood donor centers reporting 89.6% of the population has either had COVID or is vaccinated against it—begin to point toward “an ‘end game’ scenario of the pandemic once with have enough people with antibodies,” Riddell said.

Riddell also said he’s aware of the pushback regarding keeping a mask order in place through the end of the year.

“I get questions like what is my appetite for extending or rescinding the order,” Riddell acknowledged. “I don’t like that word ‘appetite.’ All this makes my stomach turn. I do these things out of duty not because I have an appetite for them.”

An area of ICU sectioned off exclusively for COVID patients remains at capacity with all 11 beds in use, Beaupre said, though he admitted, “It is not the young healthy person that is taking up hospital beds at St. John’s at this point.”

Most of the hospital’s COVID traffic lately has been from surrounding counties, especially Sublette, where vaccination rates are much lower than in Teton. Less and less cases are coming from locals and even tourists, who are beginning to wane in numbers.

Staffing is increasingly becoming a limiting factor for the hospital more than infrastructure as healthcare professionals are leaving the industry altogether or moving for better pay. Registered RNs, for instance, can call practically their salary with some earning as much as $10,000 a week.

“It’s creating a huge maldistribution problem across the country,” Robertson said.

Riddell, Pond, Robertson, Beaupre, and Foreman were all in agreement that it appears as if masks and vaccinations are working in Teton County. Pond said it is too early to tell about vaccinations because some boosters are still making the rounds, and kids—particularly the 5-11-year-old group—are yet to be eligible for a shot.

The unified message from local health professionals is “stay the course” and look at the situation again, probably after December 15 when school children 5-11 will have had the chance to be fully vaccinated.

“I don’t know how we can be any more proactive than we are right now,” Beaupre said. “I hate wearing masks on a regular basis. It’s annoying and uncomfortable, but I do not think the time is right to change course. Let’s get our seniors boosted and young people vaccinated, and then we have a real good chance of going in a different direction.”

Testing

Testing—the myriad varieties, where available, how soon to get results—dominated the 75-minute discussion this morning.

Pond admitted two local kiosk sites at the library and the Home Ranch lot—were the slower, nonrapid type tests requiring a 24-48-hour turnaround. Nonrapid Vault (saliva) tests have also been readily available in the county.

Commissioner Mark Barron asked where and how community members could be tested quickly.
“Many in this community cannot take off days or even hours while they await test results,” he said. “Where can they get these rapid tests?”

Pond assured rapid testing is done by the hospital at Urgent Care. Test results there can be available in a matter of 2-6 hours. Faster Cue tests are being administered through about a dozen organizations in the county contracted to use them. These include the school district and other entities. These tests are relatively new and provide results in about 20 minutes. They are not available to the general public, however.

Pond said bureaucracy and red tape with the state has limited the county from obtaining and making available more rapid tests.

Robertson added limited availability can also be blamed on the supply chain. “It’s important to note the reason we have a lot of different platforms is because there is an extreme shortage of the test kits,” he said.

Leading test manufacturer Abbott eased production once a vaccine became available, Robertson said. However, the hospital’s CEO assures St. John’s has an adequate supply of rapid tests for its needs but not much more.

Finally, Beaupre shared that monoclonal antibody treatments the hospital is performing are increasingly in demand, though, at this point, the hospital is conserving access to this program due to limited supply.

Beaupre also added a Merck antiviral may be a gamechanger should it hit the market. The pharmaceutical giant is currently awaiting FDA approval for molnupiravir, its oral antiviral medication.

“Hopefully, we’ll be seeing us get out of this fairly soon,” Beaupre assured.