COVID-19 spike troubles officials

CLOVIS - Following a COVID-19 spike at Plains Regional Medical Center, city and county leaders joined Interim Administrator Jorge Cruz on Friday in asking the community to follow COVID-safe procedures.

The press conference, held at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library and streamed on the city's Facebook page, followed a Thursday that saw PRMC start the day with eight COVID-19 patients and end it with 20 - the highest number the hospital has treated at once during the pandemic.

Cruz reported 11 COVID-19 patients Friday morning. That number had moved to 12 in the afternoon before the press conference, and down to 10 Saturday morning with four in the intensive care unit. But the quick uptick led to a halting of "regular visitation" at the hospital and a consideration to reschedule elective surgeries requiring overnight stays.

"Obviously, the surge is here," Cruz said. "It's real, people are getting sick. I've lived it, I've seen it every day for these past four months."

City Manager Justin Howalt pointed to troubling infection trends, with 543 new Curry County cases in the first three-plus weeks of October. Later in the day, the state confirmed another 54 cases in Curry County. The 597 October cases equal 88% of the cases seen in the prior three months combined (677), and accounty for more than 40% of the total 1,451 county cases since the pandemic began in March.

The region this week recorded five COVID-related deaths through Friday - two in Curry County, two in Parmer County and one in Roosevelt County. Cruz said PRMC had not had a COVID-19 death this week.

Cruz said PRMC has had other facilities deny COVID-19 patient transfers, but an alternate facility was found in each case.

The hospital has over the last few months cross-trained more than 100 people if needed for COVID-19 surges, and Cruz noted that a COVID-19 patient does require more staff than people with other conditions. He noted the hospital is essentially divided into a COVID section and a non-COVID section, and advised people who need care "do not be afraid to come to the hospital."

Cruz said the Clovis hospital has 68 medical-surgical beds and 12 ICU beds. "About 60 percent of med-surge beds are available," he said Friday morning. "We do have capacity right now and will be able to expand in a number of ways if needed."

Mayor Mike Morris said following COVID-safe protocols like handwashing and avoiding large gatherings and indoor spaces are important at many levels. In addition to straining local medical facilities, he mentioned impacts to the economy, local schools and Cannon Air Force Base. "Our businesses and our economy cannot afford another shutdown," Morris said, but he noted anybody should expect the governor's office to take action if infection trends continue.

Other items discussed during the press conference:

• County Manager Lance Pyle said the county has had 11 employees test positive for COVID-19, with one hospitalized. Five of those employees are currently self-isolated, and 12 other employees are quarantined while awaiting test results or due to exposure.

The Curry County Adult Detention Center has conducted a total of 1,144 detainee tests and 405 staff tests. The facility has had 95 positive detainee tests, with 26 of them still in the facility and 24 expected to recover by Sunday. There were 10 tests pending. All detainees are tested upon booking, and the county is testing 25% of staff and 10% of detainees weekly.

"We are all tired and frustrated, but we as a community of family have to come together," Pyle said. "Our businesses and schools need to stay open; we need to re-open more, we have to keep our first responders safe and we can do that as a community mitigating the spread by following COVID-safe practices,"

• Curry County Commission Chairman Ben McDaniel also advised residents to follow COVID-safe procedures and view it as an opportunity to unite as a community.

"We've seen the community come together on many different issues," McDaniel said, "and we should treat this the same way."

• When asked about potential city curfews, Morris said that would be a city commission decision, "but I have no intention of leading any charge like that."

• Howalt said the city has received more than 80 requests for CARES Act sustainability grants from city businesses and nonprofits for pandemic-related expenses. The city has $4.2 million available to award, and not all of the applications will be honored in full because so far requests have topped $5 million. A large amount of the applications are missing some level of documentation, and the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce is working with those applicants. Howalt hopes the city can start awarding monies in the next few weeks.

• Numerous questions from the Facebook audience centered around schools. Those questions were not addressed because the city has no authority over schools, but Morris did ask that people give Clovis Municipal Schools "a lot of grace" with the various pandemic issues it faces.