Navajo County is reporting that as of July 24, there have been 5,028 COVID-19 cases reported in the county. Information provided by Navajo County Public Health, Little Colorado Medical Center (LCMC) and Indian Health Services (IHS) in Winslow, and Summit Healthcare in Show Low shows that these facilities have been able to provide care to residents in need and provided an update on the current capacity and capabilities of each facility. LCMC continues to see increased volumes of COVID patients in its emergency department, hospital and clinic. Over the past six days, LCMC administered 376 tests, 14 of which were positive. At present, LCMC is caring for eight inpatients and three COVID-positive patients. LCMC continues to closely monitor its supplies, with particular focus on surgical gowns and surgical masks. Also, during the past week, Thomas Greenwood M.D., LCMC’s Chief of Staff, met with the Winslow School District Governing Board and also with local teachers to provide COVID-related information on safely resuming school-educational activities for Winslow children. With the dedication and expertise of its physicians, nurses, care and support teams, LCMC continues to serve our community safely and effectively. To date, Summit Healthcare facilities have completed over 4,000 COVID-19 tests. Summit Healthcare has experienced a surge of inpatient hospitalizations for both COVID and non-COVID care needs. Summit’s inpatient bed availability on medical/surgical and intensive care units is 90, including currently open surge beds. As of July 24, the total number of inpatients in medical/surgical and ICU beds at Summit Healthcare is 66, with 26 of them being COVID-19 positive or suspected patients. Navajo County Public Health District noted that the risk of exposure to COVID remains extremely high and it is widespread throughout Arizona and Navajo County. While numbers over the past couple of days have been trending downward, there is a backlog of pending tests so it is possible that the daily number of new cases could increase as more tests are processed at the various laboratories. As the public health nurses perform disease investigations, they are still finding too many people who are going to work even when they don’t feel well. Please stay home if sick. Do your part to slow the spread and avoid potentially passing it on to others who may have a severe reaction.
