Washington County Regional Medical Center’s Chief Executive Officer David Flanders commended the Washington County community for its efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
CEO Flanders provided a COVID-19 update to WACO 100 on Monday, August 24.
“Everyone is doing a much better job of doing the three Ws: Washing your hands, watching your distance, and wearing your mask,” said CEO Flanders.
In addition, CEO Flanders commended the schools in Washington County for their ongoing efforts to keep students, teachers, and staff safe and healthy.
“We’ve got some good news this week for the citizens of Washington County on the COVID front,” said Flanders, adding that Washington County has seen a downturn in the number of positive COVID-19 cases.
For this week, Washington County has seen 13 cases, a decline from the previous weeks.
Since March of this year, Washington County has seen a total of 598 cases, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 3 p.m. status report for Thursday, August 27.
“Most of the cases have recovered successfully,” said WCRMC’s CEO Flanders.
It can be noted that Washington County has seen four COVID-19 related deaths since March. The Department of Public Health reported the fourth COVID-19 related death in its Thursday, August 27 report. The deceased was a 62-year-old African American male with comorbidity.
WCRMC CEO Flanders urged the public to continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines concerning COVID-19.
“Continue to be careful,” said Flanders. He added, “We’re not out of the woods yet; we’re just one large gathering away from having a significant outbreak again.”
When discussing the hospital’s commitment to provide a safe and clean facility, CEO Flanders stated that the hospital staff continuously disinfects the facility. A separate isolation wing is established at the hospital for COVID-19 patients.
“We have a negative pressure to keep the air in that wing separate,” said Flanders.
He went on to say that the nurses, doctors, and staff are provided with the necessary Personal Protection Equipment to keep themselves and the patients safe.
“We need to be proud of what’s happening in Washington County, and we need to keep on with what we’re doing to try to get ahead of this pandemic,” said Flanders.