HUNTSVILLE, Ala. —
Here in the valley, locals are counting down the days until our economy reopens. There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes for businesses to prepare. One big question employers have is : “Can we test all of our workers for coronavirus before they come back?”
Madison County officials answered that question during Thursday's Daily COVID-19 news conference.
Dr. Pam Hudson, CEO of Crestwood Medical Center, says “There is no testing strategy for COVID that you would do on a workforce unless your workforce was involved with very vulnerable populations, for example, healthcare workers and a nursing home.
We’ll hear Governor Kay Ivey’s plans to reopen the Alabama economy sometime before the state’s “stay at home" order expires April 30th. Madison County leaders say they’re hoping for a “phased” reopening. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle says, “Maybe 25 percent of capacity then 50 percent of capacity then 100 percent of capacity.”
And reopening businesses does come with a risk. Dr. Hudson says, “What happens when we see a spike in cases, which we will. What we’re trying to avoid is an uncontrollable spike in cases.”
With COVID-19 numbers on the rise in Marshall county, officials warn residents to be careful. Dr. Hudson says,“Viruses do not recognize county lines, they do not recognize ‘neighborhood A’ vs. ‘neighborhood B’.”
Leaders are prepping for potential spikes later on in the year. Dr. Hudson tells us, “I don’t know that we’ll have something dramatic in the fall, I expect mini suges through the summer…But, I think our biggest concern is having the supplies that we need and having the testing capabilities.”
A new form of testing has revealed antibodies could provide key information to researchers and even help those who are infected by the virus. Dr. Hudson says, “People in a convalescent stage donate blood and the blood banks extract the plasma, which contains the antibodies... and inject that into a patient who is currently battling the disease clinically.”
An old treatment for a new disease. Dr. Pam Hudson says local blood banks, LifeSouth and Red Cross are to soon open the doors for those who've had COVID-19 and recovered to donate plasma. She says, “We absolutely support it and you’ll see more of that and making the announcement that they’re looking for those donors who have had the disease.”
