1. Current Numbers
   1. Positive cases in County - 14,442
   2. Positive cases in hospital - 35
   3. Deaths in County - 240
   4. Recovered Cases - 13635
   5. Positive Employees - 341
   6. Positivity Rate -13%
   7. Hospital Census - 95%

State- 11.6M tests, 712K tested positive, 6.1% positivity rate. 14 day rate is 5.1%. 7day is coming in at 4.4%. Sadly, 130k deaths 1.8% death rate. 3k hospitalized down 12% from last Thursday. 1200 in ICU, 33k healthcare workers contracted and 150 deaths.

There is confusion about the additional testing sites that will be able to test asymptomatic individuals. You mention they may or may not require a physician order. With this in mind won’t it give false security? An individual can be negative one day and within a few days be positive.
There is a big difference in a specimen collection site than a testing site. The Tulare Ag Center will now hold a specimen collection site. You can call and get an appointment to go there. You do not need a physician order and they will collect your specimen there. It will be sent to a commercial lab. There has been a vast improvement in turnaround times.

Testing is still limited to symptomatic patients at Kaweah Delta. We did secure Quidel for the nasal swab testing. Once we get that at all of our rural sites, patients can call, make an appointment, and go to the site whether they are asymptomatic or symptomatic.

The numbers keep changing and the community is now unsure of who to believe. As the CEO of Kaweah Delta, what is the true death rate from COVID?
We have had 240 Deaths County wide. There are a few different ways we can measure death rate, those that test positive in the county 14,442 positive
COVID cases, that translates to a death rate to 1.67%. (the state rate is 1.8%) Another way to measure the death rate and more common occurrence is to compare it to the flu rate which translated in 2017-2018 to 2 deaths per 100,000 people. If we look at death rates to total population, 240 COVID deaths to 480,000 population translates to a death rate to .05%, or 50 people per 100,000.

Are healthcare workers regularly tested?

They are not tested unless they have symptoms. Healthcare workers do get screened every day upon arrival to work.

Do you have a report that shows the co-morbidities of patients who died from COVID?

No, we don’t. There is a specific diagnosis code where COVID-19 is primary and secondary diagnosis is present because this virus causes a lot of secondary reactions.

Speaking with a nurse from KD the nurse said there wasn’t enough PPE. Is that true?
No, that is not true. There is no doubt about it that PPE practices and supplies have changed constantly. Early on in the pandemic the N95 mask was in limited supply, but now, because there is more availability, we provide a N95 mask at the beginning of their shifts. A nurse working with a COVID-19 positive patient wears full coverage; bonnet, face shield, face mask, and a disposable isolation gown.

You mentioned you are getting a supply of 50,000 N95 masks from Office Depot. Can anyone buy one from there?
I do not know but I would imagine our bulk order through Office Depot is done at the corporate level. I am not sure you can walk in there and buy one or two off the shelves.