Town Hall Guests Hear from Freeholder, Health Director

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COURT HOUSE – The Cape May County Chamber of Commerce held a virtual town hall meeting May 22 to discuss the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Freeholder Jeff Pierson and County Health Director Kevin Thomas led the discussion, moderated by Chamber President Vicki Clark.
Pierson began with three items that he felt were essential in the COVID-19 timetable when the county made critical decisions. The first was a move by the County Health Department to create a local pandemic task force “about a week before the governor declared a state of emergency March 9.”  Pierson said the move gave the county an early start on its response to the pandemic. He indicated that the group, formed in early March, is still meeting regularly.
The second item was a decision to close the county nursing home at Crest Haven March 14.
“We took about 30 different actions as part of that closure, and as a result, thank God, I am happy to say we have had no COVID cases among residents or staff,” said Pierson.
Pierson went on to describe protocols instituted for testing staff daily. Rigorous adherence to distancing, hygiene, use of protective equipment, and regular testing helped keep the facility free of infection while hot spots developed in others.
Pierson’s third item was the county appointment of a recovery task force April 26. The Recover Initiative Plan sent to Gov. Phil Murphy in early May was, Pierson said, detailed, thoughtful and thorough.
Pierson also reminded residents that second homeowners have been at the shore for weeks. They are, and will be a part of, the county response for a “safe and healthy” reopening.
Thomas then explained the routine of responding to a communicable disease outbreak.
“This is what we do as public health officers,” he said. His discourse covered the role of social distancing, the importance of contact tracing, the use of personal protective equipment, how the county employs isolation and quarantine.
“We were lucky,” Thomas said, “that the number of cases remained small enough that we could do the important contact tracing.”
Responding to one of several questions asked by participants, Thomas expanded on his earlier statement, pointing to Cape May County’s geographic isolation, its type of housing, which avoids large communal living styles, and the way county residents abided by stay-at-home and social distancing restrictions as  factors in the “second-smallest case count in the state.”
Both Thomas and Pierson pointed to the high percentage of the cases in long-term care facilities.
“When you account for that,” Pierson said, “the appearance of the virus in the community is not so bad.”
Asked how many of those seeming community-based cases represented staff who worked in the long-term care locations, Thomas said he did not have those numbers. He added that it is difficult to know if someone contracted the virus while working in such a facility or within the community.
Both Thomas and Pierson, responding to questions about a possible case spike, said the county was prepared if a spike in cases accompanies reopening the county’s tourism economy. They said additional staff could be tapped, regional hospitals were prepared to help if patients needed to be diverted, and the county had a stockpile of appropriate personal protective equipment.
Both men also explained that the county’s most vulnerable population, older residents who also may have preexisting health conditions, need a support system to ensure that essential needs are met without those individuals having to unduly expose themselves to risk. They also emphasized that the first lines of protection were the individuals themselves, who need to be mindful of the benefits of continued distancing from others.
“These are individuals who can have serious complications and even death as a result of infection,” Thomas said.
No mention was made of recent warnings concerning emerging evidence of serious complications with young children.
Pierson indicated that wide-spread testing is available in several venues from urgent care facilities, major testing laboratories, some private physicians and the county.
When asked about a schedule for reopening the county, Pierson said, “The governor marches to his own drummer.” He then qualified his comment by noting that the governor must make decisions based on the whole state.
Pierson added that the county will continue to follow the schedule outlined in the Recovery Imitative Plan. While he did not say it, county officials know that the ability to follow the plan’s schedule depends on actions by the governor.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.