by Kevin Zimmermann
The scope of the Coronavirus outbreak at Sunny Ridge has had significant impacts upon that facility, its residents and staff, and required extraordinary measures in order to control the outbreak and staff the facility. On Saturday, the Sheboygan County Department of Health Services issued a news release that shed more light on the incident and the response.
The outbreak was first noted on Tuesday, March 31st with the confirmation of 2 cases of COVID-19 within Sunny Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Within the week, as of Saturday April 4th, 10 confirmed cases have been associated with this outbreak. Sheboygan County DPH partnered with the State DHS to assist Sunny Ridge to coordinate the response.
Through the process of contact tracing, all potential contacts to the confirmed cases were evaluated for risk of exposure, symptom monitoring and dates of last exposure. After that initial set of contact tracing, Sunny Ridge found its staff extremely limited, with over 30 needing to isolate or quarantine for a period of time. The facility also had immediate needs for Personal Protective Equipment, or “PPE”. A shipment of PPE was quickly obtained through the efforts of Sheboygan County Public Health, County Emergency Management and Sunny Ridge, who contacted the Wisconsin State Department of Health Services and Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center. The supply of gloves, surgical masks, n95 masks and gowns was sent before the afternoon shift on April 2nd.
In order to stop further spread, the Wisconsin State DHS has partnered with the National Guard, local public health, emergency management and our local health care systems in order to test all staff and residents of Sunny Ridge beginning Sunday.
County Administrator Adam Payne praised all entities who cooperated to support the response, saying: “…we could not be more thankful for the continued partnership.”
Payne added that “What is happening at Sunny Ridge could occur at any Nursing Home, which is why it is so critical that every health care provider develop contingency plans and has adequate personal protection equipment for their staff.”
——-SATURDAY STATS, MESSAGE——-
As of Saturday, Sheboygan County has experienced 22 total confirmed cases of COVID-19. 12 of the cases are active and one remains hospitalized. 9 County residents have recovered and 1 succumbed to the disease. 206 persons tested for the Coronavirus have come back negative.
Public Health urged continued vigilance through limited excursions, avoiding direct contact with others, practicing social distancing, covering coughs and sneezes, and frequent, thorough hand washing.
Per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, cloth face coverings are recommended in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as in grocery stores and pharmacies…especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. The cloth face coverings recommended aren’t surgical masks or n95 respirators. Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders.
