The state’s first COVID-19 patient reflects in 1 year since hospitalization

The state’s first COVID-19 patient reflects in 1 year since hospitalization

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SALT LAKE CITY – A year ago, on Sunday, Utah received its first patient with COVID-19.

Mark Jorgensen and his wife contracted the virus while on a cruise ship in Asia, along with dozens of others – before the now rampant disease reached the states.

“I had no idea that we would still be doing it a year later,” said Jorgensen on Sunday, adding that he initially expected the new SARS-CoV-2 strain to act “more like another swine or bird flu”.

“I am very surprised that it has lasted so long,” he said.

Jorgensen, who never experienced the symptoms, was admitted to the special high-level isolation unit at the Intermountain Medical Center on February 28, 2020, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested the transfer of a hospital in California. He was already in quarantine, awaiting transport from Japan to the USA and while in California.

He spent a few days at the Murray Intermountain facility and then, still without symptoms, was transported by ambulance – and police escort – to his home in St. George to ride for a few more weeks of quarantine.

“We certainly didn’t intend to make him the guinea pig … but we had to learn,” said Dr. Todd Vento, an infectologist at Intermountain who helped with Jorgensen’s treatment. He said that so much has changed since a year ago.

The doctor, who had prepared and planned the arrival of COVID-19 in Utah, said it was “surprising” to receive the call that a positive patient was on the way.

“It was then that it became real,” said Vento. Even 40 days after the test was positive, Jorgensen’s tests still showed that he had COVID-19, but at that point, all indications showed that it was finally safe for him to leave the house.

Mark Jorgensen takes a selfie in an ambulance. He hired COVID-19 during a cruise with his wife, Jerri, in Japan in early 2020. Mark Jorgensen was taken back to the USA directly to an Air Force base in California, before being transferred to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray in February. , 28, 2020.
Mark Jorgensen

Intermountain’s bio-containment unit is just one of the few that exists in the United States, in case there is a need for isolation against certain diseases. It would not have been enough for all patients who have already been treated for COVID-19, the doctors found.

At the time, quarantine was the only known method for preventing the spread of disease.

“It’s a terrible thing that happened,” said Vento, adding that COVID-19 is something that will continue to be a problem, albeit less invasive, for years to come.

“We cannot be complacent,” he said. “We knew it was a marathon. A marathon is 26 miles and we are somewhere in the middle, between teenagers or 20 years old … we have to keep running and not think about the finish line. We have to keep fighting the good fight ”.

Utah numbers well off the peak

Utah’s daily case counts reached more than 5,000 at the peak, after being as low as a few dozen at first. On Sunday, the seven-day average of new cases stood at 647, compared with 1,425 on February 1. Vento said it appears that the virus is stabilizing in Utah and in all states, as mutant strains are emerging, keeping the disease quite virulent.

On Sunday, the Utah Department of Health reported 465 new cases of the disease confirmed by tests. It brings the total number of people infected with COVID-19 to 371,235 in Utah.

In addition, there were six more deaths reported in Utah on Sunday. Among them were four men and two women, including a man from Summit County between the ages of 45 and 64 who was not hospitalized at the time of his death; a man from Salt Lake County between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized; a man from Tooele County between 45 and 64 who was not hospitalized; a Utah county man over 85 who was a resident of a long-term care facility; a 65- to 84-year-old woman from Weber County who was a resident of a long-term care facility; and, a woman from Salt Lake County between 65 and 84 who was a resident of a long-term care facility.

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 1,935 Utah residents since the pandemic began.

Nationally, there were 28.6 million cases and more than 512,000 deaths caused by COVID-19, according to CDC reports. Recently, as Vento said, new cases in the United States resolved about 70,000 a day.

Vento said he realized that COVID-19 would not be a problem last summer … “but the virus really showed us that it is on schedule and we have to adjust.”

Because of the population and demographics in Utah, Vento knew that the state would not experience the level of illness felt in New York or Washington, where long-term institutions were hard hit.

He said that hospitals in Utah never reached crisis standards.

Since Jorgensen arrived at the Utah hospital to be treated by COVID-19, 14,695 people have been hospitalized with the virus in hospitals across the state. On Sunday, the state health department reported that 203 people are hospitalized with the disease, 20 less than what was reported on Saturday and 38 less than a week ago.

With the number of cases still declining, hospitalizations also follow the same trend in Utah. Health officials said the number of deaths will respond accordingly, but it is a slow indicator of the disease.

Utah has tested 2.2 million people for COVID-19, using a total of 3.8 million tests since March last year.

Maximizing vaccines, best way to wear a mask to contain disease

The state fully vaccinated 254,569 people with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. In all, however, the state administered 715,536 doses, including 14,243 more than reported on Saturday. At least 820,940 doses of the Moderna and / or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have been delivered in Utah. Vaccination appointments are filled quickly, as the state still receives weekly doses of vaccines.

A third available vaccine, manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, was approved for wide distribution on Saturday and will arrive in Utah soon, officials said.

Vento said that vaccines need to be “maximized” as a weapon to contain diseases.

“We need to keep doing the things we know will work,” he said, adding that wearing masks, distancing yourself socially, limiting meetings and more will help to eliminate new viral strains and prevent infections.

Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn talk about their coronavirus patient being treated at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on February 28, 2020. A year later, on Sunday, Vento talked about how to deal with the first patient COVID- 19 of the state at the beginning of the pandemic.

Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn talk about their coronavirus patient being treated at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on February 28, 2020. A year later, on Sunday, Vento talked about how to deal with the first patient COVID- 19 of the state at the beginning of the pandemic.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn talk about their coronavirus patient being treated at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on February 28, 2020. A year later, on Sunday, Vento talked about how to deal with the first patient COVID- 19 of the state at the beginning of the pandemic.

Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn talk about their coronavirus patient being treated at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on February 28, 2020. A year later, on Sunday, Vento talked about how to deal with the first COVID- 19 of the state at the beginning of the pandemic.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

COVID-19, Vento said, “it’s probably here to stay.”

But that should not incite fear, he said.

Jorgensen, who is eligible for vaccination because of his age and because he was a transplant patient, has not yet been vaccinated and said he is suspicious, but would do as his doctor advises. And although he was not symptomatic, he developed medical problems, including mental fog and compressed nervousness in his eye that could be the result of his COVID-19 infection at the beginning of last year.

“I may not have skated as free of effects as I thought,” he said. “But we both believe that we were blessed to get out as easy as we did.”

He and his wife led a normal life and he spoke to the media via Zoom about his accommodations in Costa Rica on Sunday. He does not regret having traveled to Japan when he did and said, “things happen”.

“We had a lot of fun with a little side adventure later,” said Jorgensen. “But we will definitely be crossing again. We are not letting the fear of that stop us. “

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