Even as Mayor Harry Kim and Hawaii County Civil Defense have said Hilo is the location of most of the recent cases on the Big Island–with 30 active on the island as of yesterday per Hawaii State Department of Health–Hilo Medical Center spokesperson Elena Cabatu has confirmed that the hospital has 7 people hospitalized with COVID-19.  Some are in the Intensive Care Unit.

The COVID-19 patients are isolated in what HMC CEO Dan Brinkman calls “a pod” to keep them away from other patients.  There are specific staff precautions in place for any health care worker who must be in that area.

Brinkman says the hospital has implemented a number of precautions to protect staff, patients, and visitors from COVID-19; these precautions have been in place for several months.   In an update to the staff on August 20, Brinkman said the hospital has adequate Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves, N95 masks, surgical masks, and gowns already in stock and more PPE is on order.    He said they don’t have enough to waste, but enough for the forseeable future.

Brinkman also said there is a plan in place to test all staff, and additional testing as needed for any staff member exposed to a COVID-19 patient.  In general, the hospital is suggesting employees be tested between 5 to 6 days after exposure, as that has been determined to be the optimal time to get an accurate test.  The hospital is using a variety of tests for both patients and employees.

He said right now, visitors are allowed–one per patient–from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m.   The precautions are rigorous with the staff ensuring the visitor has no temperature, wears a mask, uses hand sanitizer, and goes directly to the patient’s room, and then goes directly out of the hospital when they leave.  He also said for now, the hospital will continue allowing one person to visit a hospitalized patient or to accompany a patient to the Emergency Department since it’s often a caregiver, family member, or close friend who understands what the patient is experiencing and what the issues might be–so having somebody close to the patient is important to giving good patient care.  In addition, he said they’ve found that when they do not allow visitors, some people who might need hospitalization don’t want to go to the hospital, even in an emergency.

COVID-19 is prevalent on the Big Island and being community spread, especially right now on the East side of the island.  It is unwise to gather without masks and in close proximity to others, whether indoors or out, even at the beach.  Mayor Harry Kim and the State Health Director Bruce Anderson have been united in urging people to understand that the spread of COVID-19 is in everybody’s hands.  As simple as it sounds, the solution to control the spread is for everybody to wear masks, stay apart from others, and to wash hands frequently….frequently…frequently.

This is a serious situation.  Although many people have COVID-19 and show no symptoms, there are those, such as the seven people in the hospital, for whom the virus may have serious complications.  We need to work together to help save lives, save suffering, and quite important–not overwhelm our hospitals.  If our hospitals get overwhelmed, the island can “surge” the capacity, including relying on the National Guard to set up field hospitals.  But preventing that, and keeping people from having to be airlifted to Queen’s Medical Center or Maui Memorial is a better choice.  Right now, Queen’s has at least 60 patients in the hospital and the hospitals on O’ahu are actually trying to transfer patients elsewhere to be able to care for the seriously ill patients better.