Essex County Public Health Director Linda Beers speaks at the county complex in Elizabethtown in March. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

ELIZABETHTOWN — Amid concern over the spread of the novel coronavirus, public health officials on Wednesday sought to quell concerns about hospital capacity and testing capabilities — while conceding that sustaining a stable supply of protective equipment and testing materials would likely be a challenge.

At a press conference on coronavirus outside the Essex County complex in Elizabethtown, representatives from both Adirondack Health and the UVM-Elizabethtown Community Hospital said their hospitals have enough supplies to continue testing those with suspected cases of COVID-19 — for now.

“Currently, we do have adequate equipment and supplies,” ECH Director of Emergency Medicine and Chief Medical Officer David Clauss said. “Gloves, masks, gowns, eye protection, which are essential to provide care safely in this situation. However, we recognize that we have to be responsible stewards of resources because we simply don’t know if supplies will be available if our needs are significantly greater coming up.”

“It is no secret that the capacity for testing and supply has been somewhat limited,” he added. “That remains the case. We hope that will change soon. For those people who it is clinically appropriate they be tested, we do have the capacity.”

Getman echoed that.

“Our biggest concern as a system currently is the availability of protective equipment and materials. We do have adequate supplies for now. But that’s something that is strained and constrained at a local, state and quite frankly, national level as well,” she said. “I think we’re as prepared as we can be in an unprecedented event.”

Countywide, six people are in precautionary quarantine, Essex County Health Department Public Information Officer Andrea Whitmarsh said Wednesday evening. Twenty-two people are in mandatory quarantine, and there is still only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in isolation quarantine.

There have been cases confirmed in nearby areas, including in Clinton County. The Franklin County Health Department did not respond to requests for information Wednesday.

Beers’ advice for residents:

“Please stay home. Avoid social gatherings. Practice social distancing. Wash your hands. Limit contact if you feel you’re sick. And if you need to be seen, please call your emergency room physician prior to going in,” she said.

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Hospital capacity

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Cuomo on Tuesday openly expressed concern about the ability of New York hospitals to accommodate the expected onslaught of patients with COVID-19 seeking care.

“We only have about 3,000,” Cuomo said on MSNBC, referring to the number of intensive care unit beds in the state’s hospitals. “We would need about 30,000. So that’s what it’s all about, overwhelming the healthcare system.”

At ECH, there are 25 patient beds, according to Clauss.

Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake has 51 staffed beds for patients, according to Scollin. That doesn’t include beds that are being reserved for obstetrics patients or beds in the hospital’s geriatric psychiatry unit in Saranac Lake. Scollin said the Saranac Lake hospital has one negative-pressure room in its obstetrics unit, so if a pregnant woman who has COVID-19 goes into labor, the hospital can deliver that birth.

There are just eight ICU beds at AMC.

Scollin said the hospital’s ability to scale up its capacity will depend upon a number of factors, including how many patients are in house who don’t have COVID-19 versus those that do, and how quickly patients come and go. Adirondack Health officials are working to secure another location for beds.

At the nearby Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, there are 14 ICU beds, NCPR reported Wednesday. In Watertown, at Samaritan Health, there are 13 ICU beds altogether.

“I think it’s fair to say we’ve never experienced a situation that required a more rapid and coordinated response from both public health, health care institutions and the general public,” Clauss said.

Clauss said ECH always works with other local hospitals to provide the level of service a patient needs, and as the coronavirus spreads, that collaboration will continue.

“We will continue to make the best use of our resources here,” he said, “but we will continue to decide which patients … whose care would benefit from a higher level of services, and make use of our partners to provide those level of services while doing what we can to unload the work that needs to be done at those facilities.”

The Hudson Headwaters Network provides primary care in rural areas, but doesn’t have patient beds, according to spokeswoman Jane Hooper.

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Testing

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Despite concerns about in-house capacity, hospitals around the region are open for testing.

AMC received approval from the state on Tuesday to start a COVID-19 clinic, which is now open.

Anyone who suspects they have contracted COVID-19 is encouraged to call the clinic at 518-897-2462. If you’re experiencing trouble breathing, call 911.

“The majority of people who do contract COVID-19 have mild disease that’s characterized by fever, cough and fatigue,” Clauss said. “The treatment plan for those individuals is a treatment plan that we all know well: rest, fluids, Tylenol or Advil for fever and self-quarantine to minimize spread. There is no need for those individuals to seek medical evaluation in person, and doing so right now brings risk to infection to others.”

Dr. Kristin Mack, of Hudson Headwaters, said there are triage nurses at each health center. Patients can be tested at its health centers, which are primarily located in southern Essex and Warren counties.

The network is also trying to maintain care for their patients who don’t have COVID-19, she said. The network’s staff workflow has been adjusted to help combat the coronavirus.

“We have contacted patients and postponed some appointments,” she said.

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By the numbers

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New York has the most COVID-19 cases of any state in the U.S.

Statewide, the number of confirmed cases rose to 2,382 on Wednesday, up by more than 800 from Tuesday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who cited the state’s effort to ramp up testing as one of the factors behind the increase. The state is continuing to contract with more private labs to ramp up its testing capabilities. The state Department of Health had brought in 28 private labs as of Sunday to help conduct testing. According to Cuomo, that means a total testing capability of 6,000 per day.

Altogether, 14,597 people had been tested statewide as of Wednesday, the New York Times reported. Of those, nearly 5,000 were tested on Tuesday. Thirteen people have died from the disease in New York state as of Tuesday evening.

Worldwide, the World Health Organization on Wednesday reported 191,127 confirmed cases, up by more than 15,000 from 167,515 cases on Monday. There have been 7,807 deaths as of Wednesday, up by 786 from 6,606 deaths on Monday.

Clauss said now is a critical time. The public has the ability to stop the spread of this virus.

“It is the public who really have the potential to turn this around right now,” he said. “The most effective means of combatting this is the prevention of new cases. The most effective way to achieve that is strict, severe social distancing.”

“In this area, we are fortunate to be at what may be the very very start of community spread of this disease,” he added. “This is the time when social distancing can have the most effect. This is the time when handwashing can be most effective.”

Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Gillilland, of Willsboro, cautioned residents to stay calm.

“We’re going to be okay,” he said. “Panic and fear is counterproductive to actually beating this thing over time.”

“To the people of Essex County: We’ve been through this before. Something like this. This government was established in 1799. We’ve lived through wars, through civil wars, tornados, blizzards and hurricanes, depressions, famines and previous pandemics. We know how to take care of our community and get through this,” he added. “Stay strong. Calm your fear and have faith.”