Local leaders answer community’s COVID-19 questions

A group of local leaders answered community questions regarding COVID-19 during a discussion hosted by the City of San Marcos.

Dr. Michael Kerr, Medical Director of Emergency Department for Ascension Seton Hays; Doug Wozniak, San Marcos Consolidated ISD Director of Safety and Health Services; Christina Casas-Moreno, registered nurse; and Frank Arredondo, former San Marcos mayor and community member spoke during an hour-long Facebook live on Friday, addressing a variety of coronavirus-related concerns.

Kerr began the conversation by discussing the current omicron wave, stating that the variant is sweeping across the U.S.

“This is the life cycle of most viruses. Over time most viruses mutate and self-select out to be more contagious because they keep wanting to spread but are less virulent because they don’t want to keep killing off their host,” Kerr said. “We’re seeing that with the omicron variant. It is becoming much more contagious as you have heard. It is sweeping across the community and sweeping across the country. It is getting to a lot of people in communities that weren’t normally getting exposed to covid before.

“But the good side is we’re seeing a lot fewer serious conditions. We’re seeing a lot more kind of upper respiratory coughs, sniffles, sore throat, headache but very mild. So, this has been a real blessing for us in the healthcare community that has been bracing for another wave of very sick patients.”

Kerr said some patients, however, are still becoming ill. He urged those who have serious symptoms to visit a hospital.

Wozniak discussed the measures SMCISD is taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including wearing face masks, social distancing, vaccinating and testing

“We’ve done something that’s a little more aggressive than a lot of districts around us in that we are testing in house,” Wozniak said. “So, we do the rapid tests. Our nurses are in charge of that. We also bring in a third-party company on Fridays to do asymptomatic testing. So, we’ve got the symptomatic testing throughout the week and then we also try to hit the asymptomatic populations when we can on a Friday. So, that’s been a lot of work for the nurses but of course, as you know, the protocols are more than worth the effort.”

Wozniak later added that SMCISD has tried to take the most aggressive approach amid COVID-19.

“Our (school) board enacted a mask mandate,” Wozniak said. “We’ve done hundreds, if not thousands, of in-house testing with rapid tests to try and identify kids that are sick and get them home quicker … Again, dividers in rooms and cafeterias has been a big one. Lots of hand sanitizer. I think we bought barrels and barrels that we have sitting in warehouses to constantly replenish. And again, I think the big one for us lately has been vaccines.”

Wozniak said 83% of SMCISD employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Arredondo provided a community perspective during Friday’s discussion. When asked which communities are being most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Arredondo said people of color have been impacted the most.

“That’s because they’re either in the construction industry, the service industry and they’re essential workers,” Arredondo said. “They don’t have the ability to work from home, to isolate like other citizens. Usually, they don’t have health insurance and it’s hard for them to get transportation to get assistance. So, basically they’re the ones who are suffering the most and the ones that really need the help.”

When asked what the community has done well during the pandemic, Arredondo responded by saying the community has volunteered to help with COVID-19 testing and vaccine clinics.

“We’re in it all together,” Arredondo said. “In trying as much as we can even though it’s not our sphere of being educated in. But there’s people out there working hard and trying to bring resources, getting water out to people, getting food out to people. I think it’s becoming a real community in the sense that those who have empathy who want to do good to help along with what the problem is right now.”

Moderator Maria Rocha asked Casas-Moreno to share best practices to protect yourself from contracting COVID-19.

“Washing our hands regularly with soap and water, covering our mouth and nose with a mask when in public settings, maintaining 6-feet distance between you and other people and avoiding touching your face, being mindful of other people’s space, staying home when you don’t feel well, refraining from smoking and other activities that weaken the lungs and practicing physical distancing by avoiding unnecessary travel and staying away from large groups of people,” Casas-Moreno said.

She later addressed ways to take care of mental wellbeing.

“It’s become more critical than ever,” Casas-Moreno said. “Just encourage sticking to a schedule, exercising, eating healthy, going outside to get some sunshine or fresh air each day that can look like taking a walk around your neighborhood or you know my favorite, exploring our beautiful trails in San Marcos. Gratitude, the more we look for the positives, the more we’re going to find.”

Rocha later asked Kerr how the community could help hospital staff as they experience another coronavirus wave. Kerr said medical personnel are tired but he’s hopeful the omicron variant will present the final big wave of COVID-19 cases.

“Right now, the emergency departments have been waxing and waning high volumes then low volumes and dealing with a lot of very sick people,” Kerr said. “That’s been very heart wrenching for us because these are our communities, these are our family members that are coming in very sick and as medical professionals we do our best for them and sometimes it’s not enough for them. We have to deal with that emotionally as well as trying to continue doing our job. So, we are trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got and we’ve gotten so much better at dealing with covid. Over time we’ve learned so much more about it and how to deal with it.”

Kerr said getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and practicing the prevention measures Casas-Moreno discussed will help hospital staff as the pandemic continues. Kerr later addressed concerns surrounding the vaccine.

“You’re not going to covid from the vaccine,” Kerr said. “They are safe. They’ve been reviewed by CDC and FDA, multiple world health organizations … It is currently recommended that you not only get the full vaccination series but you also get the booster.

“What it’s doing, it’s an mRNA, it just generates your body to make a single protein that it recognizes is foreign and the single protein is one of the main proteins in the coronavirus,” Kerr added. “So, what it does, it essentially primes your body’s immune system to recognize covid when it comes in contact with it and starts your own body’s immune process to fight off the invader early. That’s why sometimes people even with the vaccine, especially with this omicron variant, can get covid. You can get exposed to it and it can replicate very quickly. But if you’ve been vaccinated, you lessen the severity, you lessen the time and you have kind of a jump start on the immunity response to it.” Alongside getting vacci

Alongside getting vaccinated, Kerr said it’s important to also support your own health by exercising, washing your hands and eating well.

To watch the full conversation visit: https://fb.watch/axzz84-RZT/