Mayor Discusses Possible Mask Mandate

Following a discussion about the impact of COVID-19 on Box Butte General Hospital at the Alliance City Council meeting, Mayor Mike Dafney indicated a city-wide mask mandate could be implemented if the coronavirus continues to spread.

BBGH CEO Lori Mazanec spoke to council members last Tuesday, citing that day’s report of seven more people in the Panhandle succumbing to the virus. As of press time, there have been 49 deaths in the Panhandle related to COVID-19. She said hospitalizations continue to increase, even locally.

“Nebraska marks seven straight weeks of record new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths. Rural hospitals are now feeling the impact of bigger cities,” said Mazanec. “The state also recorded a new weekly high for deaths related to the novel coronavirus. The deaths of 74 Nebraskans were reported in a seven day period that ended on Saturday. That was up from 55 deaths reported in each of the previous two weeks.”

Mazanec said the largest number of positive cases falls among people between ages 20 and 49.

“It’s lucky if they’re healthy enough not to be hospitalized, however, we have no way to tell if they are quarantining during their illness and maintaining that isolation for the full recommended 14 days,” Mazanec said. “We’ve learned that people are contagious two days before they have symptoms. This is where masks make a difference, is when you’re out in the public, and you don’t even know you’re going to get sick.”

BBGH has halted elective surgeries requiring an overnight stay, Mazanec noted, because of the need for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. She noted that the State COVID Transfer Center has played a crucial role in mitigating the impact of hospitalizations. Patient preference, Mazanec explained, can not be taken into account when patients are transferred to other hospitals for care, meaning that patients from the region have been transferred as far as Salt Lake City, Utah and St. Louis Missouri because of hospital capacity issues.

“Box Butte General Hospital’s COVID hospitalizations over the past three weeks have ranged from five to 12 patients at a time,” said Mazanec. “This has been as high as 67 percent of our total staffed beds, and continues to impact admissions overall. As a critical access hospital, we have 25 beds total. This week, yesterday, we had 18 patients filling those beds. The care requires isolation protocols and focus on one to one care.

“BBGH has 25 beds, and we have seen multiple days where we have 21 and 22 patients in beds at one time,” Mazanec said. “This is where you see the stress, not knowing what the next ambulance will bring in, or another patient or a family member walks through that door. We are seeing the impact of not being able to transfer a patient out due to hospitals not accepting patients. We have to make do with what we can internally to care for the patients, even if they require a higher level of care. This is COVID, or otherwise, whether that’s heart attack, stroke, or anything else that comes through our door.”

Mazanec said based on the reports of COVID-19 cases in Box Butte County, the total number is roughly doubling every 14 days. She said emotional and mental fatigue is another issue staff is handling as the cases continue to rise.

“Just last week, the difficult decision to allow one family member to be in the hospital as a loved one died was made,” said Mazanec. “I never thought I would be put in a position to weigh the risks of allowing a healthy person into the isolation room so they could hold the hand of a loved one while they passed away. This is our reality right now. While it may not have impacted you yet, it will. We are now seeing it is not discriminating to anyone. Even the healthy are succumbing to this virus.”

Mazanec asked the community to step up to the challenge of slowing the spread of the virus by wearing a mask and taking other precautions such as socially distancing, avoiding large groups of people and practicing hand hygiene.

“We can get ahead of this if we make the right choices,” Mazanec said. “I’m not sure a mask mandate is the answer, but we need to treat it like it’s a mask mandate and really encourage our community to get behind us on this.”

After the council heard personal stories from Steve Van Noy, PA-C at the BBGH Emergency Department and Dr. Terri Myers, Dafney emphasized the city has the authority to issue a mask mandate, noting the council will look at implementing one if the situation worsens. He suggested the city meet with BBGH and Panhandle Public Health District to determine a course of action.

“The city has the authority,” said Dafney. “When I requested that we mask up here (at Alliance City Council meetings), I no more got home and got a call from two or three people. One of them was so upset that he had voted for me every time I ran, and that he would never vote for me again. I could give a damn. That’s asinine. But, I’m putting that out there. Council has the authority to do that if this thing gets too far away from us, we’ll look at it in cooperation with the hospital and Panhandle Public Health.

Dafney said he appreciated the work BBGH is doing in fighting the spread of COVID-19.

Council Member Annora Bentley said that she had just lost her mother to COVID-19, urging everyone to wear a mask to slow the spread of the virus.

“I would like to beg everyone to wear a mask, because you don’t want to have to go through what my family has just gone through. Not being able to see your mother in the hospital; you should not have to depend on a nurse to hold her hand while she’s dying. And those nurses didn’t sign up for that. I wish we would have a mask mandate. So, thank you (BBGH) for all of the caring that you provided.

For more stories shared during the Alliance City Council meeting turn to next week’s edition of the Alliance Times-Herald.

As of press time, there have been 582 positive cases in Box Butte County since testing began, with 133 active cases, 446 recovered, and three that resulted in death. As a whole, the Panhandle has had 5,472 positive cases, with 2,493 active, 2,930 recovered and 49 that have resulted in death.