March 5 COVID-19 Update
Here is the latest on what you can do to protect yourself from COVID-19,
what we are doing at Kaweah Delta to keep patients safe, and other related
activities in Tulare County and throughout the State. Get information
on masks, testing, prevention and more.
Statewide
Governor declares state of emergency: Yesterday, Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency, making additional
resources available and laying groundwork to help the state prepare for
broader spread of COVID-19.
House and Senate pass federal spending package: The House and Senate have passed an $8.3 billion spending bill that includes
$400 million for state grants, some of which will be available to hospitals
to combat COVID-19. The bill still needs to be signed by the President.
At Kaweah Delta
Tulare County public health officials are asking Kaweah Delta, along with
other area hospitals, to begin testing people who meet the Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention criteria for novel coronavirus. We will
remain vigilant in our efforts to keep our staff, patients and visitors
safe following the CDC’s guidelines for collecting, handling, and
testing clinical specimens from persons under investigation for COVID-19.
We continue limiting face masks to patients (for more information on masks, click
HERE) and have asked our community to visit patients only when they are well.
We will provide you with updates as we have them.
Tulare County
There remains no evidence of an infection of COVID-19 in Tulare County,
according to the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency. For updates
from TCHHSA on the number of individuals in the county being self monitored, click
HERE (site updated two times a week). The county has the ability to test locally;
test results are typically available within 24-48.
Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention continue to stress the
following everyday actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses,
which include:
- Handwashing
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- Covering coughs
- Cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces.
- And more.
We will continue to provide updates on COVID-19 activities as we know more.