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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;Reno County Interim Health Officer Karen Hammersmith believes that COVID-19 has had a negative effect on the whole community, even on those who have not yet been infected."We don't know when that accident is going to happen," Hammersmith said. "We don't know when somebody's going to have a heart attack, if they're going to have a motor vehicle accident and there's only so many people to go around and that's why we really have to slow down and be intentional about our actions."The healthcare system is under extreme stress from COVID-19 cases and it is vitally important that the community voluntarily slow their lives down to slow the spread."The people that we know are sick in the hospital, most of them have underlying conditions, most of them are older," Hammersmith said. "Some of them are middle age. It doesn't necessarily mean, you know, that they came from a nursing home by any means, but when your child has a motor vehicle accident and they're critical, they're still feeding into the same hospital who is overwhelmed in the ER and they're overwhelmed in the ICU and we want to give good care to everybody."The community is in the midst of the 10-day COVID-Cut Off in an effort to slow the spread of the virus in the community.

Hammersmith: Key to treating all patients is stopping COVID-19 spread