County hits community spread status

No longer able to trace back new cases of the novel coronavirus, health officials in Lincoln County declared last week that the pandemic had reached the “community spread” stage locally.

Public Health Manager Jennifer McCully announced the designation during a Facebook Live event held July 16 and again during a county health board meeting that evening. McCully said officials arrived at that conclusion after several people tested positive for COVID-19 with no known source of transmission.

Community spread describes a situation where an infection advances throughout a population without a known source, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Officials consider it worrisome, because it likely indicates an unknown number of cases still in the public.

A backlog in test results played a role in the designation, McCully said. County officials are waiting up to 14 days for results. Given the delay, authorities had little choice but to declare the community spread status for Lincoln County.

“We feel now, after so many days of not having lab results back, we cannot actually, truly, tell if we have connections for exposure and, in fact, it might be too late to know,” McCully said.

The wait has forced officials to drop messaging related to testing. As kits became available in larger amounts, health workers urged residents to undergo testing. Dr. Brad Black, the county’s health officer, said last month that those in routine contact with high-risk populations — elderly relatives, for example — undergo regular testing.

As of last week, the Northwest Community Health Center announced it could not offer testing to those who may be asymptomatic carriers of the novel coronavirus. The facility urged anyone suffering from symptoms related to COVID-19 to contact their primary care provider.

The backlog also has put those deemed close contacts with confirmed cases in a limbo of sorts. McCully said officials were asking those people to self-isolate, but were not performing contract tracing on them.

Investigating everyone potentially exposed to the coronavirus is not feasible, she said.