Fire District 13 call involves asymptomatic virus patient

COVID-19 has been called an invisible enemy.

Fire District 13 personnel can attest to that following a recent local emergency call.

“We had a confirmed asymptomatic COVID-19 case this week,” Fire Chief Wood Weiss said during the district’s video-conferenced April 23 meeting. “Neither I, nor anyone else, would’ve expected that call to have been COVID-related. There was no fever, no coughing.”

Weiss told the Weekly News that he couldn’t answer specific questions related to the call, citing HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) patient privacy constraints.

Weiss did say, though, that the call further reinforces the importance that all necessary precautions be taken during the virus crisis.

“Asymptomatic cases mean that anyone outside your stay-at-home group may covertly be carrying and possibly passing the virus that causes COVID-19,” Weiss said. “These people would not even realize that they are carrying the disease.”

Because of that, Weiss said COVID-19 prevention policies are in full force throughout the ranks of District 13.

“I can’t impress enough on everyone how important is to follow the right procedures,” he said.

Those include wearing masks at the fire hall, Weiss said.

During the briskly-paced 45-minute meeting, Weiss told Fire District Commissioners Larry Kibbee, Bruce Shellhamer, and J.J. Wilbur that the number of COVID-19 cases in Skagit County was 268 – and counting.

“As testing ramps up,” he predicted, “there’ll be more confirmed cases.”

In related notes:

• Weiss said the fire district is applying for federal grants to help defray its COVID-related costs.
• During the statewide ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ initiative enacted to curb spread of the coronavirus, Weiss said the fire district has seen a decline in calls for service and patient transports. “It’s a national and state trend,” he said. “Once we come out of this (the COVID-19 shutdown), I think things will get back to normal.”