Geisinger Reports 134 Coronavirus Tests for Clinton County Residents
DANVILLE – Geisinger reports it has done 134 tests for COVID-19 on Clinton County residents. And through Thursday of this week, five of those patients tested positive.
The numbers were provided therecord-online on Friday by Geisinger Media Relations Specialist Marc Stempka. Those numbers do not align with the Friday report from the state Health Department which said 97 total tests had been conducted on residents within the county. Stempka said to align with state and federal reporting, testing data is logged by county of residence and does not necessarily reflect where someone was tested or received treatment for COVID-19.
Stempka said Geisinger will only test people who meet CDC screening criteria. If a person meets CDC criteria for symptoms and/or exposure, he said, “Geisinger, like many providers, has the capability to obtain specimens for testing. If you are having symptoms you think are related to COVID-19, first call your primary care physician, who can advise on proper treatment — and if necessary, recommend further testing.” He said those with symptoms can also call Geisinger’s nurse triage line at 570-284-3657 with questions about symptoms or the need for further evaluation or testing.
He added, “This is a reminder that physical distancing practices and other preventive and precautionary measures will help ease the burden on the national and regional healthcare infrastructures.”
Earlier Friday Dr. Jaewon Ryu, President and CEO of Geisinger, cautioned against relaxing stay-at-home strictures brought on by COVID-19. Ryu said, “We have got to be really careful; this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Responding to questions at a virtual news conference, Ryu said Geisinger continues to see the coronavirus case count across the Geisinger service area climbing. Noting it was a “small creeping up,” he said, “We haven’t seen the worst of it yet.”
He said Geisinger has performed 10,000 tests across its service area from northeastern Pennsylvania into the central part of the state. Of those, he said, some 1,400 to 1,500 have returned positive. The majority of those tested positive, he said, got to go home while another 250 have required hospitalization, including 94 admitted on Thursday, the bulk of those from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
The Geisinger CEO said less than half of Geisiner’s beds are occupied, so there exists a capacity to handle more cases. He said the rate of climb at cases in the northeastern service area is slowing down, but cautioned that peaks of cases elsewhere, through to State College and southward to Harrisburg, are likely still “several weeks out.”
Ryu urged the community at large to follow five guidelines:
1) Stay home
2) Wash your hands
3) Avoid touching your face
4) Wipe down surfaces
5) Give back and encourage one-another
