Charlton has first COVID-19 patient; EMTs in quarantine

CHARLTON - The town Board of Health has been notified of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Charlton, and three EMTs who were exposed to the infected patient are now in self-quarantine as a precaution.

The confirmation of the positive case came late Tuesday from the state Department of Public Health, the town said.

Wednesday night the Charlton Fire Department posted a statement on the department Facebook page confirming the exposure to department personnel.

The statement said the Board of Health indicated that three members of the Fire Department were exposed to a positive COVID-19 patient during a call recently.

"At the time of the incident, the patient exhibited no signs and symptoms, but later was tested positive," the statement said.

It continued, "The three (3) staff members were immediately notified and placed under self-quarantine for 14 days, even though they themselves have no confirmed issues."

The Fire Department "took extreme measures to isolate all shifts in a 'proverbial vacuum' so that there is no cross contact amongst the four (4) working shifts. The administrative staff has been relocated offsite, working remotely. This was done to minimize exposure opportunities running through the department," the statement said.

The department has updated its response to include every patient receiving a surgical mask prior to interaction with EMTs.

The Fire Department is providing additional personal protective equipment for staff to wear during respiratory calls.

"Sanitizing of all apparatus is happening after every response for service," the statement said.

Meanwhile, that patient was not treated at Harrington HealthCare System’s Charlton facility, which was closed Tuesday night, according to CEO Edward H. Moore.

Charlton Town Administrator Andrew M. Golas released a statement Wednesday saying the confirmed patient remains under quarantine and is being monitored by health officials.

Charlton health officials received a call from St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester reporting that a Charlton resident had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Charlton Health Agent James Philbrook on Wednesday.

The woman called 911 and was taken to the hospital by Charlton EMS. Her symptoms at the time did not suggest coronavirus. She was sent home and quarantined pending test results. After receiving the positive result, the woman and her husband were quarantined.

That case is not related to the Charlton mother who walked into Harrington's UrgentCare building on North Main Street on March 8, which caused her children to be sent home from school. That mother's test results were negative on March 11.

Meanwhile, in a move aimed at limiting exposure to the coronavirus, Southbridge-based Harrington HealthCare Systems closed the urgent care facility in Charlton, urging patients to go to its Oxford urgent care site, Moore said.

The hospital system, which had a patient who tested positive for coronavirus in its Southbridge campus, closed the Charlton site because its patient volumes there had declined, and there is more room to serve patients in Oxford, Moore said in an interview.

Harrington said in the statement that it is monitoring several other patients and expect that additional cases are likely in the weeks ahead.

The hospital system has set up a coronavirus hotline to answer questions at (508) 765-8191.

Harrington’s Urgent Care Express at Charlton closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. It will remain closed until further notice. Patients were encouraged to visit Harrington’s Urgent Care Express at 78 Sutton Ave in Oxford.

The Charlton COVID-19 patient didn't have any contact with Harrington's Charlton facility, officials said.

Moore said that treatment of the coronavirus has created a great dilemma for the system because it takes two to three days to confirm a positive or negative result from either the state Department of Public Health or private lab. This negates a quick discharge of a patient who eventually tests negative for the virus.

“Until that can be done in the hospital as a quick point-of-care test, we're all going to be delayed in knowing how to treat these patients, and have major issues as we treat them as if they could be positive,” Moore said.

“We're treating them with masks and gloves and everything else that we probably may not need to - or we don't know that they're negative until they're proved positive - so we're wasting all this equipment that we're going to need to treat people. And we can't get replenished equipment because there's shortages,” Moore said.

“So that's where the health care system is going to come to a screeching halt and be overwhelmed,” he said.