Mayor demands how many masks Carson City has, emergency operations declines to answer

An update was given to the Carson City Board of Supervisors regarding emergency operations being provided by Carson City Health and Human Services as well as the quad county Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

During the discussions, Tom Raw, Deputy Emergency Manager for the EOC, said they do not want to publicly disclose the amount of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) the city has. Carson City Health and Human Services Director Nicki Aaker also said they have stopped putting in orders for PPE since orders were not fulfilled in the past.

Mayor Bob Crowell asked several times during the meeting whether or not Carson City was sufficiently prepared with tests and PPE equipment, and what those numbers were.

“There is a national shortage,” Aaker said. “We’re following the CDC priority listing. The health department has arranged for testing, and the Nevada Public Health State Lab has been providing swabs and vials. The hospital is swabbing, other entities are testing.”

“Do we have sufficient tests and PPE for our community?” Mayor Crowell asked.

“We are not doing community based testing,” said Aaker. “They need to fit within the criteria. We’ve had sufficient supplies for those who fit the criteria. We’ve been requesting PPE from the state. The hospitals are being resourceful in their PPE use. We haven’t had a big cry out that they don’t have (PPE equipment).”

Supervisor Stacey Giomi, however, disagreed, and said they at Nevada Health Centers are in desperate need for PPE, for which he also works as NHC's Emergency Preparedness Director. They’ve been asking staff to use sterilizers to sterilize N95 masks for repeated use due to a lack of supplies.

“I think in the next week to ten days the CDC will say people will need to start wearing masks out in public,” said Giomi. “As a non-profit health care provider we’ve been requesting PPE through our vendors and emergency operation centers.”

Carson City Health and Human Services is not currently ordering any PPE because in the past they haven’t been fulfilled, said Aaker. The EOC representative stated they have been placing orders "every day or every week."

“I have never seen a number of how many tests we have, how many gowns we have, how many masks,” said Mayor Crowell. “Why are we not seeing those numbers? It seems like no one wants to say.”

Mayor Crowell said that the board needs to know the quantity of supplies.

“I’m not sure if we want the PPE count numbers out in the public,” Raw said. “Can we tell you we have enough to sustain a week or two weeks?”

“I’d prefer a number,” said Supervisor Brad Bonkowski.

“I’ll see if we can arrange that information to be forwarded to the board on a daily basis," Raw said, though they made it clear the information would be for the board alone and not for public distribution.

As far as test numbers, CCHHS isn't aware of how many tests being done.

“We ourselves don’t have the number of how many tests are being performed in Carson City,” said Aaker. “We just know about the positive tests.”

Last week, in a letter to a reader who was addressing concerns about testing, Aaker said CCHHS is not testing every person. She said CCHHS and its healthcare partners continue to follow the testing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which takes into consideration if the person is a healthcare provider, a person’s age, whether he or she is hospitalized and underlying medical conditions.

Supervisor Giomi told Aaker they should be asking how many tests have been administered at each location in town and compile a running number.

“We want to be proactive, not reactive,” said Bonkowski.

According to Bonkowski, there is an entire warehouse in Mound House with PPE equipment stockpiled, but it belongs to the federal government, and local communities have no access to it.

One projection is predicting that Carson City will have 50 total cases and five deaths across the quad counties, based on the King County, Washington model, which is currently a few weeks ahead of Carson City.

There are currently 16 positive cases and one recovery within the quad counties.

“We need to be able to let people know we can keep Carson City safe,” said Mayor Crowell. “There needs to be hope.”

“If you’re sick, you need to stay home,” said Aaker. “When you get home, wash your hands. Don’t traipse around your house in your shoes. Wipe down areas. Take responsibility for some of that.”

“People need to start using common sense,” said Bonkowski. “If you think you were exposed, don’t go out telling people you were exposed. Stay home. Use a little common sense, folks.”

Giomi also said there have been incidences of people lying about having COVID-like symptoms until they are in the room with a doctor, and then that doctor and other healthcare providers are being pulled out of practice and isolated due to potentially being exposed.

Mayor Crowell said that if he knows what supplies are needed in Carson City, he will call the governor’s office every day until they can get supplies, but he and the board are not being given that information.

Aaker said that the governor has been calling the vice president to try and get more supplies on behalf of Nevada.

Bonkowski asked Aaker to explain the process of testing positive since the public doesn’t fully understand the process.

“If an individual is positive, our investigation team will contact that individual and find out what their contacts have been and decide based on that where those individuals need to self-isolate,” said Aaker. “Those individuals will be contacted and told they need to self-isolate for fourteen days. Then they will be monitored. We’re following up with them as well.”

“Are we going to be contacting where they work? Probably not,” said Aaker, citing privacy laws. “But we tell them they should let their employer know.”

If a business with 100 employees turns out to have an employee that tests positive, that business is not required to shut down, tell other employees or clients, or do anything to respond, said Bonkowski.

“That’s correct,” said Aaker.

Supervisor Lori Bagwell asked what it means to be recovered.

Aaker said that someone is considered to be recovered once they have a negative test following a positive test, which could take fourteen days or it could take longer, depending on how the individual is recovering.

“You may have COVID-19, but nothing can be done if you don’t need to be hospitalized,” said Giomi. “The test doesn’t help you. You should self quarantine for 14 days if you think you have it.”

Bonkowski pointed out that the number of cases is significantly higher than what is being reported due to a shortage of tests.

“Do we have an idea of what the actual number of those who are infected are?” asked Bonkowski.

“I haven’t seen the data on that,” said Aaker.

“There are 200,000 positive cases (in the U.S.),” said Bonkowski. “If the projections (coming out of Italy) are true, 27 times that, that’s over five million people walking around with it.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked by that number,” said Giomi.

“You’ve been practicing these pandemic simulations for years,” said Mayor Crowell to Aaker. “Get out there and show people what you’re doing.”

Currently, the Salvation Army is acquiring donations for the EOC, said Raw, and distribution will begin shortly throughout the quad counties.

Any donations can be given to the Salvation Army and they are putting together a resource catalog list and then the EOC will distribute it to who needs it.