Prince William outlines coronavirus doomsday plan, names secondary hospital sites

In preparing for the worst affects the coronavirus could have on the region, Prince William County Executive Director Christopher Martino on Tuesday outlined a three-phase plan to deal with the expected surge patients.

First, the hospitals will take in an increasing number of patients afflicted with the disease until they are full.

Once area hospitals fill up, field hospitals — like the one erected in the parking lot of Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg — will be needed outside the existing hospitals. Those secondary hospitals will tend to patients who don’t have symptoms of coronavirus disease.

The third and final phase will be erecting primary and secondary hospital sites in Northern Virginia if needed, said Martino. While nothing is final, Martino said the following sites could be used as off-site hospitals because of their close proximity to existing hospitals, and because of their larger size to accommodate the expect needed large number of beds:

• National Conference Center in Loudoun County (1,000 beds)
• Dulles Expo Center in Fairfax County (500 beds)
• George Mason University Campus in Fairfax City (500 beds)

The peak of the virus is expected to arrive in Virginia on May 28, 2020, according to modeling data from the University of Washington. That’s 56 days from now.

Martino also identified what he called “second-tier” sites for temporary hospitals, including the Hilton Garden Inn at Neabsco Commons in Woodbridge (140 beds) and Beacon Hall at the George Mason Science and Technology Campus in Manassas.

“This is a worst-case scenario,” said Martino. We’re hoping this can be mitigated with some of the things we’re doing, to include social distancing.”

The plan to erect secondary hospitals comes at a time when there is a shortage of healthcare workers. Many who are on the frontlines of this fight across the U.S. are being exposed to the virus, and are getting sick.

Area hospitals have made it clear that they lack the staffing and personal protective gear (PPE), like protective medical garments and facemasks, to work the secondary hospital sites. So, officials are looking to issue a rallying cry for volunteers to come to work the secondary sites if needed.

“This might result in calling on asking the military to start staffing the faculties,” Martino added.

Dr. Allison Ansher, head of the Prince William Health District said the county was running low on PPE. What they do have is being sent to urgent care clinics where patients are being tested for coronavirus, as well as nursing homes where the elderly live — those who are thought to be most at risk of dying from the disease.

“We don’t have access to a whole lot of access to gowns and things like that,” said Ansher, who added the county health agency received only about 10% of the PPE gear it was expecting to fight the virus.

While the elderly were thought to be the most at risk for the disease, new data show everyone is negatively affected by the coronavirus.

“This is a virus that no one is immune…the data is becoming more apparent, and more full, this virus is affecting every age group,” said Martino.

Yesterday, officials at the White House declared as many as 240,000 U.S. citizens could die from the coronavirus, and that’s if citizens follow all of the recommended social distancing guidelines and adhere to the stay-at-home orders issued by multiple governors across the country.

As of today, there are 186,101 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. (22,562 more than yesterday) with 3,603 deaths (2,860 more than yesterday).

In Virginia, the numbers stand at 1,484 cases (224 more than yesterday and 34 deaths (seven more than yesterday).

Statewide, a total of 15,344 people have been tested for the disease (1,943 more than yesterday)