Thread by @ColeMillerTV

THREAD: This is Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips. She's the Chief Medical Officer for Providence St. Joseph Health. In our COVID-19 conversation, she says "we are getting ready for the storm," expecting case numbers to peak in two weeks. She had plenty more to say... #KOMONews

"Testing is a terrible indicator right now because we just don’t have access to the test kits," she said. "They don’t exist so that’s not the way to look at it." She tells me there has been a surge in patients showing symptoms that test negative for the flu #KOMONews

"We think looking at that clinical syndrome is a better way to gauge what is the burden of COVID-19 in our area versus looking at test results because they’re just not credible." As far as obtaining that info/numbers , it would be hard due to how it's collected #KOMONews

On the topic of PPE, "the burn rate is horrific." She adds, "the amount of PPE we need to protect our care givers and doctors is just so steeply ramped up that the industry simply hasn’t kept up with the demand" #KOMONews

Here's a startling figure:

"All of last year, we used 250,000 surgical masks. In the first the 3 months at our Everett hospital that had the first COVID-positive patient, we used 250,000 surgical masks."

That 'last year' number includes 51 hospitals #KOMONews

On morale, she tells me it's "very high," but "if this is going on a month from now, "we are not in a sprint. We’re in a marathon and I really think this is an ultra-marathon in Death Valley in the summer." #KOMONews

Finally, she says hospitals/clinics must find ways to give caregivers breaks mental/physical health.

Worst case scenario?

"If there was no PPE, they’d run in to the room and they’d save the next person not protecting themselves at all because that’s what they do" #KOMONews