We are striving to bring our readers all the facts we can obtain about the COVID-19 virus and how it is affecting our community.
We have asked our state and local health officials for information on the two positive cases that have popped up on the Department of Public Health website as Habersham County residents.
Patients are listed on that site – which is updated twice daily – under their county of residence. It does not mean they were tested here or that they are being treated here. Habersham Medical Center did not have anyone admitted who has tested positive for COVID-19 at press time.
They could have been tested at another facility and are staying home. They may not currently be here at all. We basically know very little beyond the number “2” on the website.
This is because our health officials claim that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – better known as HIPAA – protects any and all information on the positive patients.
We do not want their names, nor did we even ask for their towns of residence, age or gender. What we are looking for is the backtrack information – where have the patients been and how do they think they contracted the virus.
Some counties in North Carolina are revealing this kind of background information without identifying the patients in question. One person who tested positive in Cherokee County, N.C., claimed he had only been to a local casino, something that certainly is of interest to anyone who also went there. Another was at a local contra dance, which was attended by 90 people just days before everything was closed down.
This shows two different states obeying a federal act in different ways, which should not be happening. We believe the backtrack information is vital to public health and does not compromise the privacy or identify of the patient.
We will keep digging.