Wright County Public Health hasn’t been a visible part of the frontline of the fight against novel coronavirus. Much of that lead has been taken by the state’s Department of Health and, of course, those in the trenches at local hospitals and urgent care units.
However, that could change, and rapidly, according to Wright County Public Health Director Sarah Grosshuesch. County health departments will be critical to the state’s response when a vaccine is discovered in, hopefully, 12 to 16 months. And, until then, antibody tests could expand quickly, helping the county and state determine who can and should head back into a changed society.
“In the meantime, we’re very busy offering a lot of services we normally do, just in a much different way,” Grosshuesch said in a recent conversation with North Wright County Today’s Mike Schoemer. “Our most notable ways – the WOW van and some of our on-site flu shot clinics, things like that, have had to be put on hiatus. But we are still serving moms and families and our seniors around the county as we would if we weren’t in a pandemic.”
Gossheusch said the county has worked very closely with clinics and hospitals to support their efforts to expand testing, for example. And, it’s been the county’s main arm for providing data to residents and press about the current state of affairs in our area’s battle with COVID-19. While the county has seen only one death, it has been “fortunate,” she said.
“We do expect the number will continue to grow,” she said.
Here is our full conversation: