DCH Coronavirus Update 10-1-20

Updated Visitation Policy

Yesterday Governor Kay Ivey updated the Safer at Home order. The mask requirement has been extended into November, and a revision to health care visitation standards was made. Because of the latter change, DCH is updating its visitation policy effective at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2020.

Here is a summary of key points.

Fayette’s Long Term Care (LTC) facility will continue to NOT allow indoor visitation. The governor’s order includes long-term care facilities, but points to parameters from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for determining visitation timing. One visitation requirement for LTCs is a county positivity rate below 10 percent. Fayette County’s positivity rate is currently 16.4 percent. Outdoor visitation will continue using the visitation booth until all indoor requirements have been met.

Starting Oct. 2 at 12:01 a.m., all of DCH’s acute care hospitals will expand visitation to one healthy visitor per non-COVID-19 positive patient.

The governor’s order excludes visitation with COVID-19 positive patients. At DCH, visitors will not be allowed while a patient is known or suspected to be positive for COVID-19 except for certain extenuating circumstances including end of life.

The full policy can be found on DCH’s website here: https://www.dchsystem.com/covid-19/visitation-policy/.

Testing and Confirmed Cases

To protect patient privacy, DCH has established a minimum threshold of five for reporting numbers of inpatients with laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19.

DCH internal counts as of 4:45 p.m. on 10/1/20:

• 65 inpatients are being treated for COVID-19.
• 25 inpatients who are positive for COVID-19 are being treated in the ICU.
• 10 who are positive for COVID-19 are on ventilators.
• 6 who are positive for COVID-19 are on a BiPAP.
• 3,342 (cumulative) unique positives for COVID-19 tests including results from the ED, triage tent and inpatient. These individuals are not necessarily in the hospital.
• 22,383 (cumulative) unique negatives for COVID-19 at DCH sites.
• 4,297 (cumulative) positive COVID-19 at DCH sites. These individuals are not necessarily in the hospital.
• 33,604 (cumulative) negative tests at DCH sites.
• 990 inpatients (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have been discharged.
• 193 inpatients (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have died at DCH. This is not an indication of the cause of death, only that the individuals were positive for COVID-19 at the time of death.
• 106 Tuscaloosa County residents (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have died (per the Alabama Department of Public Health).

18-24 Demographic Information

• 3.9 percent of those 18-24 who tested positive for COVID-19 have needed inpatient care at DCH.
• 5.9 percent of women 18-24 who tested positive for COVID-19 have needed inpatient care at DCH.
• 1.1 percent of men 18-24 who tested positive for COVID-19 have needed inpatient care at DCH.