In her latest media availability video, Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich responds to questions about testing capacity, the reliability of models and the veracity of President Donald Trump.

Below, as usual, is a timestamped list of the questions and brief summaries of her responses.

0:00: What does treatment look like for those with COVID-19?

Generally it’s providing people with oxygen and ventilation, if needed, along with general medical services, Frankovich says. The county is exploring other types of treatment, including antimalarial and antiviral medications, and exploring the use of antibodies from people who’ve recovered from the disease. 

1:00: Why is President Trump saying things that contradict the situation on the ground, like saying, “Anyone that wants a test can get a test”?

“Well, I can tell you that’s been a frustration, certainly on my end,” Frankovich says. The fact is that there are multiple limitations to the testing process, including supply shortages and lab capacity. She says she’s been in contact with state and federal representatives about what’s needed. 

2:13: Chipotle’s grand opening in Eureka drew a crowd. Can the Health Department shut down a restaurant for failure to comply with the county’s shelter-in-place order? 

Social distancing should be practiced in all public places, though the county’s approach thus far has been educational rather than punitive, Frankovich says. “But there certainly are enforcement options,” she adds.

3:03: Explain again the difference between “quarantine” and “isolation.”

Isolation is for an individual who has symptoms, whether COVID-19 infection has been confirmed or is merely probable, Frankovich says. People in quarantine are not symptomatic but have exposed to a case. They’re asked to shelter in place for 14 days. 

4:15: Of Humboldt’s 50 positive tests, how many were processed by the county and how many at private labs?

“I don’t know the exact count,” Frankovich says. Probably “less than a handful” have been from the commercial labs.

4:44: It seems the rate of test results from private labs has slowed. Do you know why?

Couple different possibilities, Frankovich says. It could be due to a glut at the labs, though we’re also coming out of flu season. There may just be fewer respiratory illnesses. 

6:15: Seems like very little testing is being done. Why?

“Today we ran 55 specimens,” Frankovich says. That’s pretty much full capacity for the Public Health lab. The number of test run varies day to day. 

6:40: It seems like the number of test kits available to the Public Health lab has been diminishing. Are you getting more? 

“We are constantly in a position of working to acquire more kits because we’re using them on an ongoing basis, obviously,” Frankovich says. The number goes up and down, and some more just came in. 

7:40: Why aren’t we seeing more recoveries reported by Public Health? 

It’s really hard to interpret what each jurisdiction and institution means by “recovered,” Frankovich says. There hasn’t been a uniform definition. The county has been asking for more clarity from the state and is holding off on releasing numbers until that’s received.

8:44: Are people being tested a second time to determine if they’re recovered?

The CDC says in order to take patients out of isolation they need to either have two negative tests 24 hours apart or meet certain clinical criteria, such as the absence of fever and other symptoms.

9:45: If a citizen has feedback on what the county considers an “essential” or “allowable” business, what should that person do? Does the county continue to refine what is allowable and what is not?

It’s impossible to outline every possible business in a single document, Frankovich says. People with questions should contact the Joint Information Center at 441-5000. 

10:18: Can you explain the limitations of testing to reflect the actual number of infections in our community?

“The more we can test, the more we can determine,” Frankovich says. But since community transmission has been confirmed here, it’s definitely out there, though it may be in relatively low levels thanks to successful social distancing and staying at home.

11:45: Here, the off-camera questioner asks Dr. Frankovich to paraphrase a lengthy question submitted by Times-Standard Managing Editor Marc Valles. Frankovich says it was about “surge and modeling,” which really doesn’t quite capture it. Here’s the full question, as published on the TS website: 

“On Wednesday, responding to a question that Public Health had been working on a model to predict the local surge last week, Dr. Frankovich said that as soon as you “have a working model that … we have faith in, that makes sense, and that people can actually plan around, we will put that information out there. At this very early stage, we just don’t have any strong model yet that people could really rely on and use. The other important thing to realize is that we are nowhere near a peak of cases.” That last part seems to contradict everything that came before; how can Humboldt County state with any authority that we are nowhere near a peak of cases if the county doesn’t already have a model, and are we any closer to Humboldt County releasing this information?”

Frankovich says the term “surge” refers to a fast increase of cases that may challenge local health care industry capacity. Locally, we have not hit the kind of caseload that would qualify as surge, she says. “I can only say that when we hit that steep incline of cases, we’ll all know that.” Modeling can help predict the trajectory of an outbreak, but in early days they’re not very reliable, she says. The state is working on modeling, presumably based on specifics in California. 

She did not explain how she could state authoritatively that the county is nowhere near a peak of cases.