Good news: so far, the epidemic has not exploded at Laguna Honda

In the early days of the pandemic I walked (with careful distancing) the neighborhoods adjacent to San Francisco's mammoth public nursing home, Laguna Honda Hospital. Was a catastrophic death toll about to happen in that huge facility? As I read reports from Washington State and New York, mass infections and horror seemed inevitable.

But this hasn't happened. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Now, four months into the pandemic, not one Laguna Honda resident or worker has died of COVID-19, public health officials say. Of the 721 people living there, 19 have become infected. And of more than 1,800 employees, 50 have tested positive.

What went so right when so many other nursing homes became death traps?

• The city received useful help from the CDC in training staff in effective handwashing and how to wear masks and gowns.
• The city somehow got hold of enough PPE so workers could follow safety rules without having to worry they would run out.
• There was enough space to create a separate COVID area so infected patients could be quarantined for 28 days.
• Testing was slow to ramp up, for lack of tests and equipment, but eventually all residents and staff were put on a two week  regular testing schedule.
• When workers did develop symptoms, the local public health department devoted personnel to contact tracing.

I'm not often a fan of our mayor, but the article highlights another reason Laguna Honda was the recipient of this smart, careful assistance: London Breed's own grandmother had been a resident there. It's not every mayor who has had relatives in a public hospital and that almost certainly made a difference in the attention directed at Laguna Honda.

The article fails to mention another unusual facet of why Laguna Hospital has been able to beat back infection, at least for now. The workers there are union members, accustomed to stick up for themselves through their own organizations. Worker power can save lives.

Let's hope San Francisco's public hospital can keep up this effective response to the public health crisis.

The experience points to the two clear lessons of this plague time: mass death was preventable and mass death is averted when organized people work together.