MOHAVE COUNTY – Health professionals are looking ahead while dealing with fewer new COVID-19 cases and deaths in Mohave County. Department of Public Health Director Denise Burley told county supervisors Monday that staff members will be engaged in a Wednesday tabletop exercise involving managing supply and distribution once a coronavirus vaccine is approved and available.
“That will inform us of plans and activities and strategies that may be employed to allocate and prioritize a vaccine that will be coming available sometime in the near future,” Burley said. Burley responded in the affirmative when supervisor Buster Johnson asked if area nursing homes will be better prepared to fight any possible second surge of coronavirus.
“Each of the facilities is receiving testing equipment,” Burley said. “That I think will help guide them in how frequently they test staff and patients and their surveillance activity will help them prevent spread within their facilities.”
Supervisors approved Burley’s recommendation to once again make a change in data presentation. Cases and deaths will be statistically documented from the date of diagnosis rather than when reported.
“I think that date of diagnosis is a better number to be using, a better method to use in reporting the data,” Burley said. “I think it better reflects the actual timing of the spread in our community rather than it being based on sort of a subjective date of when we actually had it reported to us.”
Another mass testing opportunity is coming up later this week in Lake Havasu City.
“This will be the Arizona State University saliva testing that will occur Friday, October 2 at the Lake Havasu Community Center at 100 Park Ave.,” Burley said. “This will run from 8:00 to 1:00. It has a pre-registration requirement and there will be 280 participant spots available for testing on that day.”
- Dave Hawkins