County begins to consider life after the coronavirus

Still a long way from “normal”

By Mark Reaman

Gunnison County officials leading the fight against the local COVID-19 outbreak presented an optimistic but cautious viewpoint of the current situation during a town hall meeting Monday night, but could not definitively say when things might return to “normal” in the valley. It was not expected to be soon.

Even with three local deaths now attributed to the coronavirus, the officials cited using early and strong measures to keep the spread of the virus under control. But they warned that if restrictions were lifted too soon, a second or even third wave of the virus could impact the county. While stating that comprehensive testing to get a better view of the population infection rate was important, the director of Health and Human Services, Joni Reynolds, indicated some sort of restrictions would probably remain in place to protect vulnerable members of the county until a vaccine was available or 80 percent of the community population was found to have been exposed and immune to the virus. Restrictions would likely be less strict than the ones currently in place and would change depending on community health circumstances.

Reynolds said that whatever next steps come in the form of lightening the current public health orders, the path forward will not be what she called linear. ”There will be twists and turns and things that surprise us,” she said during Monday’s meeting held on Zoom and hosted by KBUT. “We need to be thoughtful and there may be some side steps and even some back stepping.”

Gunnison County commissioner Jonathan Houck agreed the same non-linear path will apply to the economic recovery. “There is a public health crisis, being followed by an economic crisis,” he said. “Like Joni said, there will be some twists and turns. Right now there are a lot more questions than answers but we have good people from the community working on what lies ahead with the economic recovery.”

Reynolds said it was hard to believe the county’s reaction to the crisis has been going on for a little more than a month. The first public health orders were issued on March 14. “It is a difficult time but we have made great progress as a community. My impression is that the outbreak will change and the orders will continue to develop as the situation changes,” she said.

“All the signs are that we are collectively successful as a community in slowing down the spread. But we must realize we are not in a bubble so we have to look both inside and outside the immediate community to continue the progress we have made,” Reynolds continued.

Reynolds said it appeared the virus infection rate had reached a plateau. “The next stage, however, involves an elaborate dance,” she explained. “Next steps need to be thoughtful and well managed. The advantage for us because we were hit early was we had access to care centers [like Grand Junction and Montrose] to care for our critically ill patients. That may not be true in a second spike. Having testing available is important for the next step.”

While saying the community was a long way from returning to “normal,” Reynolds said restrictions would be eased in a phased fashion. It would not be like turning the light switch on or off.

Supplies in good shape

Gunnison Valley Health infection preventionist Jodie Leonard said from the Gunnison Valley Hospital and Senior Care Center perspective, supplies are in good shape. “The hospital has quite a good supply stockpile,” she said in regard to personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies. She mentioned that the hospital has gone from using disposable gowns to using washable ones. Goggles are being washed and sanitized, as are N-95 masks for health care workers. While the hospital would normally have two ventilators on hand in the past, they now have four full ventilators and four transport ventilators.

“I need to emphasize that GVH doesn’t have an ICU,” Leonard said, adding the hospital is well prepared and could handle some critical patients for a short amount of time. She also said health care workers are being cautious and have shown a low infection rate. Of the 420 staff, fewer than 2 percent have tested positive for the virus.

Second homeowner messaging concerns

The panelists discussed the tear between some second homeowners in the valley and some locals. Reynolds had issued a health order earlier this month prohibiting non-resident homeowners from coming to the area and requiring second homeowners already here to leave the valley. That resulted in many second homeowners balking about the order. Reynolds amended that strict order a week later, after receiving several exemption requests. The new order is much less broad and restrictive.

She explained Monday that seeing the requests provided “quite a bit of data” to help her better understand some of the unique situations of individuals. She said the sixth amended public health order reflects the information from the data.

Houck said, in response to a question, that the county does not have the statutory authority to rebate or refund property taxes for second homeowners prohibited from using their property at the moment. He also pointed out that while the county collects the taxes, several public entities such as the school district impose the taxes as well.

As for the idea of a rift between locals and second homeowners, Houck said the community encompasses “a large swath of folks. There has been frustration expressed by many of the group and understandably so. But I have seen a lot of people understand that the orders are meant to slow the spread of the virus and it is working. The results are positive. I try not to use social media as a gauge of the community feeling. I would rather hear directly from people, and most people are understanding of the situation.”

C.J. Malcolm, incident team commander along with Reynolds, said EMTs across the valley have shifted priorities from normally dealing with trauma incidents this time of year to dealing with the virus. “This is an unbelievable time for everyone. But the EMTs have been doing great.

“An early objective of the team was to protect the health care system because we didn’t want to overrun the system like we saw happening in other places,” Malcolm continued. “We went in early in the game with proactive orders and we absolutely flattened the curve. That gave us time to deal with our health care system.”

Looking ahead

Reynolds emphasized her frustration with the lack of testing kits available. “We have had to rely on subjective data versus having tests. Ideally we would test a strategic sample to see what percentage of the population had tested positive,” she said.

Reynolds said until adequate testing was performed, she did not know how much she could lift the current restrictions at the end of the month. She did express some optimism that an increase in testing could start taking place relatively shortly. She said testing was a critical underpinning for determining how to move to the next stage.

Malcolm indicated testing appeared to be getting closer and a science and research committee was ready to evaluate data and provide guidance for modeling.

Reynolds admitted the idea of possibly not having a robust summer tourism season weighed heavily on her and she understood the dilemma of not lifting restrictions completely before then.

Houck said the local tourism economy might be changed after the crisis and also noted there is more to the county’s economy than just tourism. He listed some examples such as oil and gas development, coal mining and timber harvesting as categories already providing continued economic support to the county in addition to tourism. “Resiliency is important to build around,” he noted. He cited how Reynolds had determined construction could continue under certain guidelines.

“There are lots of nuances to consider for the future to provide protection but loosen some of the restrictions we have,” said Reynolds.

All the panelists said being one of the first and hardest hit counties in the country has put Gunnison County in a unique position to help other communities not as far along.

“It’s been a nightmare but we developed plans together and learned to communicate as a team,” said Malcolm. “We knew we would make mistakes so we preached grace for one another. We are very proud how we are getting through this thing.”

“It is great we can share our experiences with other people,” added Reynolds. “We have navigated some of the landscape before others and we can share what we learned. I feel incredibly blessed to be part of this community, part of this county, part of this team.”