Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140, No. 12 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - $1.00
DISEASE DETECTIVES:
What you need to know about case investigation and contact tracing
Contact tracing may be a new
buzz word to the mainstream, much
like the term social distancing is,
however, to the practice of public
health, there is no epidemiology
without contact tracing. When asked
why contact tracing was a new media
buzzword, Joy Miller, Director,
Office of Epidemiology, East Central
Health District 6, explained, “It
sounds like something new and
popular to talk about, but contact
tracing has been done behind the
scenes for decades.”
We hear of someone who contracts
salmonella. And then another
and another. The media keeps us
informed of this, but who informs
them? Have we ever stopped and
asked ourselves from where this
information is coming? Miller
painted this picture to understand
how a case investigation begins:
“Doctors run tests, labs run
diagnostics, patients are diagnosed,
and treatments are prescribed. In the
case of reportable diseases, we can
know of the patient’s illness be- fore
the physician does.”
There are over 70 reportable
diseases that by law labs must report
to the Department of Public Health.
These reportable diseases range from
tuberculosis, sexually transmitted
and vaccine-preventable diseases.
Once this information is gathered,
Celebrating a century
Henry Erwin, a WWII Veteran and retired Methodist minister, celebrated
his 100th birthday on May 2. Though visitors are not currently permitted
due to the coronavirus pandemic, the staff at the Georgia War Veterans
Nursing Home, where Erwin is a resident, threw him a party fitting for a
man who reached the century milestone. Erwin’s family was able to join in
the celebration via a Zoom meeting to honor their patriarch.
Census response here
is still moving slowly
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
While Census 2020 efforts are
ongoing, Burke County currently
has a response rate of 39.8 percent,
well below the national average of
56.6 percent and the state’s average
of 52.9 percent. Residents of the City
of Waynesboro are showing a 45.7
percent rate, and the areas of Girard
and Shell Bluff have been identified
as the furthest behind.
Assistant county manager Adam
Flakes says the Census Bureau has
extended the self response deadline to
Oct. 31, as many throughout the state
may not have received forms from the
Census Bureau yet. Flakes explained
that the Bureau was using its Update/
Leave process (where staff visit
households where delivery issues are
anticipated, hand delivering packets
and updating Bureau records) prior
to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
Update/Leave operations were
then suspended with only about
5 percent complete nationwide,
meaning approximately 75,000-
90,000 households in Georgia alone
may not have received any Census
information in the mail. This process
is expected to begin again on June
13 while in-person enumeration is
scheduled to start Aug. 11.
Federal funding alone estimates
that Burke County would received
around $1,300 per person per year
for 10 years, Flakes said, adding that
this does not take into consideration
any funding tied to the Census
from the state level. The funding is
calculated based on the number of
people who are counted.
The Census Bureau has also
been tasked with conducting a
COVID-19 survey, and citizens
should know that completing this
survey is not the same as completing
the Census. Anyone with concerns
should go to www.
my2020census.gov SEE
or call 844.330.2020 CENSUS,
between 7-2 a.m. 0
the work of an epidemiologist
begins. Epidemiologists are disease
detectives, gathering information
on confirmed cases, identifying the
source of illness when possible,
finding commonalities in reported
illnesses, isolating the infected and
conducting contact tracing to prevent
the spread. These disease detectives
are the first line of defense-related
to the spread of reportable illnesses.
In the case of COVID-19, they are a
Drag racing
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
A Wrightsville man was arrested
on Sunday evening for drag racing
in Burke County.
According to a report from the
Burke County Sheriff’s Office, depu
ties were dispatched to Magruder
Road in reference to a large crowd
and the possibility of street racing.
Upon arrival, deputies saw a 1980
Malibu traveling south on Magruder
with no headlights, and when they
turned around to conduct a traffic
stop, the Malibu was pulled over
on the roadside and the driver was
nowhere to be found. The report
said the automobile had racing slicks
on it and no working lights. The
owner, Travis Lee Martin Jr., 39,
was found in the woods by the road
and arrested. The report said that
while speaking to deputies, Martin
indicated he was in Burke County to
compete in drag racing and that the
$9,000 cash found on him was being
used to bet on the race.
Martin was charged with racing
on highways or streets, driving an
unsafe vehicle, no insurance and
suspended registration. The car and
cash were both seized by the BCSO.
“If you drag race in Burke County,
significant hope for our communities
to return to regular activity.
Taking a case-based intervention
approach is not a novel idea; instead,
it has been done successfully for
decades. What is novel is the scale
of the current reportable illness. The
characteristics of COVID-19 make
it more
difficult to SEE
trace the DISEASE DETECTIVES,
longer the .
O
arrest made
you will be arrested and your ve
hicle will be seized through asset
forfeiture court
proceedings,”
BCSO Chief
Deputy Lewis
Blanchard said.
“If you are par
ticipating in
any way, shape
or form, to in
clude being in
the area to ob
serve, you will
be cited and/or
arrested as this is extremely danger
ous for the participants, observers
and others on our roadways.”
Blanchard went on to say that on
Nov. 27,2011, Keshon Burdette, 15,
and Kelvin Johnson, 27, were filming
a drag race when they were hit and
killed. “The deadly crash happened
around 6 p.m. as the vehicles were
coming down Seven Oaks Road from
Thompson Bridge Road. The drivers
slammed on their brakes and one lost
control, hitting Burdette and John
son,” Blanchard said. “Just recently,
BCSO deputies worked a crash with
serious injuries in Midville where it
was determined that motorcycles and
four wheelers were used for racing.”
Travis Lee
Martin Jr.
Fund raising behind for
local fireworks show
From Staff Reports
The annual local Independence
Day fireworks show known as
Mad Anthony's Big Boom is in
jeopardy of cancellation. Downtown
Development Director Don Lively
reports that due to the coronavirus
pandemic, fundraising for the
event has not even begun. Every
penny that is spent on the show is
raised by Lively and the Downtown
Development Authority through
private donations.
"I'm weeks behind getting started
raising the money for the show, but
under the circumstances that we have
all faced, I didn't think it would be at
all appropriate to be asking folks for
money,” he said.
Lively believes that by the date
of the event, the evening of July 3,
it will be safe to hold the event in
the open spaces around the Burke
County Recreation Department.
"I think that this year, above
all years in recent memory, local
folks are going to want to celebrate
America like never before,” he said.
“I'll be consulting with the DDA
board, and if there is any way, we
will find a way to bring our folks
another great event."
Anyone interested in donating
to Mad Anthony's Big Boom can
contact Lively at 706-554-8018 or
email dlively@ waynesboroga.comor
donlively.dda@gmail.com.
Town hall meeting Thursday
State Rep. Gloria Frazier is hosting a town hall meeting for Burke
County on Thursday, May 7, beginning at 5 p.m. and featuring panelists
Dr. Phillip Coule, vice president of AU Health; the Rev. Karlton Howard,
pastor of Noah’s Ark Missionary Baptist Church; Harrison Simpson,
chairman of the Burke County Board of Elections; and Alfonzo Williams,
sheriff of Burke County.
Topics of discussion include COVID-19, public safety and absentee
voting.
Those interested in attending the online meeting should visit https://
us02web.zoom.us/j/7783833222?pwd=bFBIQkhTRExteXR5SE9seU9IS
2h0QT09. The meeting ID is 778 383 3222 and the password is 9wwlxo.
The call in telephone number is 301.715.8592.