Local surge of COVID-19 incoming as health care increasingly strained

As COVID-19 cases surge throughout the U.S., driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, local public health is preparing for a significant local surge of the virus, one that could heavily strain public health.

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Berg, also the county's health officer, said her department is predicting a surge of COVID-19 resembling those seen in the eastern part of the U.S., and they're already seeing an uptick.

"We started seeing a pretty rapid increase in cases at the end of last week and beginning of this week, which is to be expected," she said.

Both the Hill and Blaine county health department COVID updates released Thursday recommended anyone who has recently attended gatherings of large numbers of people get tested for COVID.

And the surge already is impacting the region, in a combination of COVID-19 cases and other illnesses spreading through the area.

St. Jude Thaddeus School closed this week with plans to re-open classrooms Tuesday after 40 percent of its students missed school both Monday and Tuesday, and Sunnyside Intermediate School went to remote learning this week due to a shortage of staff members, also hoping to re-open classrooms Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Both said the missing people are due to variety of illnesses.

And local speech, drama and debate students were impacted due to conditions at the high school in Simms west of Great Falls. The joint tournament planned for Saturday by the Power-Dutton-Brady and Simms teams was canceled Wednesday, canceling competition for several area schools.

Early data on the omicron variant suggests that it is generally causing people to get less ill on average than the alpha or delta variants, but Berg cautioned that study is still ongoing and people need to understand that the virus is still killing people.

"We are very early in the game when it comes to the omicron variant," she said, "... it is important to note that there have been hospitalizations and deaths resulting from the omicron variant as well. As cases increase due to the high transmissibility of this variant, hospitalizations and deaths likely will increase as well."

Berg said even taking into account that the variant causes less severe illness on average it's easily transmissible nature means the amount of people getting sick will be much higher, and that puts health care facilities at risk of being overwhelmed.

Deb Anderson of the Blaine County Health Department said health care facilities around the U.S. are extremely strained and it's always a possibility here.

In Hill County, Berg said, this problem is being compounded by the fact that there are a number of other illnesses spreading throughout the community beside COVID-19.

"When we are seeing multiple viruses circulating within our community such as influenza, RSV, strep throat, rhinovirus, COVID-19 and others, there is always that possibility that our health care facility can be overwhelmed. This can happen from an increase in sick patients, an increase in sick health care staff, or a combination of both," she said.

She said her own department is also starting to feel serious pressure, and the workload will likely get worse when the surge is in full swing.

"We are down two staff members from where we were this last fall and winter, and the increased numbers are taxing our team," Berg said. "Everyone is working together to ensure the work is complete, and that we are doing the best we can to protect our community."

She said they are working with their fellow health departments on researching online tools that can assist in notifying cases and contacts, and they are advertising for the open positions in their own department.

Blaine County appears to be in somewhat better shape, with Anderson saying the department is doing fine for the moment and has enough staff, but another surge could certainly change that.

Morale at Hill County's health department, as well as the larger health care community, is not high as yet another surge of COVID-19 approaches, Berg said.

"We are all exhausted and ready to be beyond this, but we will continue to do the work that is necessary to battle contagious diseases and protect our community," she said.

She said everyone in the community is feeling some level of pandemic fatigue but, ultimately, everyone is in it together and it will eventually end.

"I want to ensure you that this will not last forever," she said. "We will get through this. Our community is tough. We take care of each other during hard times and this is no different. Thank you to those doing your part to help slow down this pandemic. We couldn't do it without all of you."

Berg and Anderson both said the best way for people to protect themselves and others is vaccination, but people can also wash their hands frequently, cover their months when they cough, wear a mask when out in public and stay home when they are sick.

Berg said these measures won't just protect people from COVID-19 but all the other viruses spreading through the community.

Unfortunately, vaccination in the county has more or less plateaued, with only 58 percent of the eligible population fully vaccinated as of Jan. 7.

However, Berg said, her department still sees people trickling in for vaccinations, and not just for boosters, but first-time doses.

Blaine County is in worse shape when it comes to vaccination, with 51 percent of their eligible population fully vaccinated.

Along with the spread of COVID-19, the community, and world at large, is also dealing with an ongoing spread of COVID-19- and vaccine-related misinformation which has contributed to vaccine hesitancy and generally exacerbated the pandemic over the past few years.

Berg said her department rarely gets questions about the vaccine or COVID-19 any more so it's hard to gauge how widespread COVID-19 is in the community, but Anderson said the proliferation of such information has certainly had a negative effect on things.

"Social media platforms have made it worse for both COVID and vaccine misinformation," she said.