How was the St. Louis area prepared for the coronavirus pandemic?

ST. Luis — Is the St. Louis area ready to face illnesses like COVID-19? Did you have a plan to deal with the pandemic? Or are some of our most longstanding problems that expose the weaknesses of our response?

“Plans are useless, plans are everything,” is a wartime quote from history leading Dr. Alex Garza. Garza is working with SSM Health to lead the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which consists of four major hospital systems that work together to combat COVID-19. 5 On Your Side wanted to know if Dr. Garza felt he had the right plans for a pandemic.

“We all have plans. Everyone knows what a FEMA plan is and what a pandemic plan is, but it always adapts to what is happening on the ground,” Dr. Garza said. It was

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But while the hospital adapts the plan, what is the local government working with?

5 On Your Side called on several jurisdictions in the region to make copies of plans for pandemics. What we have got is from very detailed and recently updated to well-protected, and perhaps secret, scope.

Embalsha Cham of the University of Public Health and Social Justice at the University of St. Louis is watching how the area responds to the virus.

“I think I’m trying to keep my fingers away from one or one leader. When we do, I don’t think we’ll work,” Shacham said. “I think it depends on how we measure it.” Did we quickly implement some homestay policies? “I think we did it the right way. I will. “

But COVID-19 exposes a gap in our response, she said. First, there is no “one plan” for the entire region. The order can vary from one county to the next, or from one side of the road to another.

“If we could put them all together in counties and cities, or in St. Louis and St. Charles counts, we would all be together,” Shacham said. “I think the region needs to respond in a way that it recognizes that these borders are important only to those responsible for them,” he said.

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Second, Shacham said our joint plan often overlooks some neighbors most likely to be exposed to COVID-19, and potentially also COVID-19. It was.

“We talked about vulnerable groups, which are mostly elderly, but we do not. How African Americans may be at high risk for COVID-19. I wasn’t talking about, “Shacham said. “Are they working at grocery stores to increase the risk of infection? They are working as baggage handlers and ticket agents.”

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Shakham said there was no system to look for places that could increase the risk of infection, such as international airports.

“We have historically and consistently invested in public health institutions, and now we emphasize,“ Oh, we should have paid attention to public health. ” “Shacham said.

Shacham believes that if health throughout our region was a higher priority, we could be stronger and better prepared to deal with the coronavirus.

“Unfortunately, we had a pandemic to stop and see it,” Shacham said.

Dr Garza said there isn’t the amount of testing needed to reopen the region.

“It will take a while before we can declare a victory over the coronavirus,” Dr. Garza said.

Various jurisdictions are currently bidding on the open market for more testing. However, Dr. Garza has seen improvisational regional cooperation and some promising results. The hospital is currently within its capabilities as people are staying home.

“And the way to do that is to work as a community, and there is no other way to deal with the pandemic as an individual jurisdiction,” said Garza.

If there is a second wave of virus, we try not to make mistakes.

“That’s right,” said Garza. “That’s why I stay up late.”

5 On Your Side, whether influenza or coronavirus, called for an emergency plan related to the pandemic. The plan will tell you how different counties monitor cases and the department responsible for the services needed to respond.

Health departments in Illinois, Missouri, and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Madison, and St. Clair sent us what they had. The city of St. Louis rejected our request, with exceptions that could withhold the document if it compromised our ability to respond to emergencies.

You can read the contingency plan you received by clicking the link below.

Missouri: Pandemic influenza response plan

Illinois: Pandemic influenza preparedness and response plan

Saint Louis County: Pandemic influenza response plan

St. Charles County: COVID-19 response plan

St. Charles County: Local public health emergency surgery plan

Jefferson County: 2019 Novel Coronavirus Guidance Manual

Jefferson County: H1N1 2009 Pandemic Flu Response Plan

St Clair County: Pandemic flu plan

Madison County: Pandemic flu plan