It’s been nearly two months that we’ve been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Ohio takes a step forward on Friday opening some businesses. So, Allen County Public Health, the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce, Mercy Health-St. Rita's, and Lima Memorial Health System tell us where we’ve been and how we go forward.
May 1 marks the opening of dentists, veterinarians, and people may now get elective procedures done with their health care provider, as long as it doesn’t require an overnight stay.
Both Lima Memorial Health System and Mercy Health-St. Rita’s said patients will see a new normal in the hospital. They are following all CDC guidelines and those getting a procedure will be tested for COVID-19 beforehand.
"We want to encourage you, that we believe our facilities are safe places to come for care," Dr. Matt Owens said, chief clinical officer for St. Rita's. "There have been some phenomenon that we’ve seen where people with significant disease, chronic disease things other than COVID-19 have may be delayed or put off their need to be evaluated. We want to encourage the public that we’re their for you. We’re doing everything we can to keep our facilities safe."
Both hospitals have recently gained the ability to test for the Coronavirus with a turnaround of 24 hours.
"But again it must meet the criteria that’s been established by the governor," said Dr. Dennis Morris, vice president and chief medical officer of Lima Memorial Health System. "And basically these are our patients that are symptomatic and are the sickest that we would be screening as well as health care providers. There still is not enough testing supplies available to do mass screenings."
General offices will open on Monday and retail can start to offer curbside pick up before opening their doors on May 12. The Lima/Allen Chamber of Commerce is assisting businesses with resources by sending out resource kits to their members.
Allen County’s health commissioner said the county has done well to flatten the curve, but those efforts must continue as businesses open. She said it’s important to abide by the governor’s orders and respect the requests from the businesses you visit.
"One of the things that we’ve learned is that people are spreading this more earlier before symptoms start," said Kathy Luhn, health commissioner. "We also learned there’s a large majority that are asymptomatic and that’s why some of these social distancing practices, things like the face masks, are ways that we can reduce that spread as we are out and about a little bit more."
The county continues to focus on the most vulnerable populations, particularly in jails, prisons, and long term care facilities.
