Coronavirus Update: Officials Urge Calm After 3 Exposed In MoCo

ROCKVILLE, MD — Stay vigilant and do not panic. That's the message local officials are sending to the roughly 1.1 million residents in Montgomery County, where three people have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich joined local lawmakers and health officials on Friday for a news conference about the virus — dubbed "COVID-19" — and the county's efforts to safeguard residents. The televised update comes less than 24 hours after Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency in Maryland, directing the Maryland Department of Health and Maryland Emergency Management Agency to ramp up coordination among state and local agencies and fast-track the state's response to the illness.

"There is no reason to panic," Elrich said, noting that the risk to the public is still low. "And life as you know it should continue, pretty much, as it was before this became news with the caveats of what we're saying about precautions."

Those precautions include washing your hands, coughing and sneezing into your elbow, disinfecting frequently used surfaces and objects, and staying home from work or school if you're feeling ill.

Montgomery County Public Schools said it won't shut its doors, but is prepared to teach children remotely if need be.

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During the press conference, Elrich — as well as other county lawmakers and health officials — repeatedly emphasized that the community is ready to take on the disease, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has since infected more than 100,000 people around the world. Globally there have been 3,460 deaths from the virus, most in China. There have been at least 14 deaths in the United States, with all but one occurring in Washington state. The other death was in California.

The three Montgomery County residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have only been identified as a woman in her 50s and a married couple in their 70s. The trio were on the same overseas trip, from which they returned home Feb. 20. To respect their confidentiality, health officials did not specify where they traveled but said they are in good condition.

"We've been preparing for this scenario since January, so we're not caught by surprise," Elrich said. "I think everybody kind of knew intuitively that since it was in the United States, sooner or later it would be popping up in different places. We knew that Marylanders, like everybody else, travel around the world — have contact with people — and it was entirely likely that the scenarios would develop into something like this."

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Elrich said county response teams have been closely collaborating with the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit the spread of COVID-19.

That includes weekly calls with the CDC and the state, contingency planning, meetings with Montgomery County Public Schools about what to do if decisions around closures are needed, routine drills, and constant updates from health officials across the country, according to officials.

As for what's happening with the three confirmed cases, Elrich said the Maryland Department of Health is working on getting their travel histories — where they were when they contracted the virus overseas, how they came back to Montgomery County, and what they've been doing and who they've been in contact with since they've returned.

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county's health officer and chief of Public Health Services, said the county is assisting the state in its investigation. There is no set timeline within which that would be completed. But Gayles said that it is "being done expeditiously."

"We want everybody to know — whether you live here, work here, or you're visiting here — that we are committed to everybody's safety," Elrich said.

In an effort to assuage any community fears about a potential pandemic, Gayles shared what officials know about COVID-19 and the three patients from Montgomery County.

"Coronavirus refers to a whole family of different viruses, including the common cold. Within that, there's a full spectrum of severity of illness," Gayles explained. "As it specifically relates to COVID-19, we've seen COVID-19 hit a lot of different countries ... and in the United States."

"There's differences in terms of how they're transmitted. As is the cases are in Montgomery County ... those three cases are travel-related," meaning they "traveled to an area where they were exposed to COVID-19 and came home infected with the virus."

Gayles said that's different than community-transmitted cases, like the ones in Washington State and Northern California.

"Community transmission means that an individual who had no travel history, or didn't have any significant risk based upon being exposed to someone else with a significant travel history, got the illness in some way, shape, or form," he said. "And that's probably our most concerning level of transmission because we don't have an active source that we can point to that caused those cases."

Gayles said that, as of Friday morning, there is no evidence of community-transmitted cases in Montgomery County.

He also said he wanted to emphasize that the three patients in Montgomery County "are doing well clinically."

"That suggests that the severity of the illness, even if it's here, remains at a mild to moderate category," Gayles said.

How COVID-19 affects people differs depending on a variety factors, including age and health.

Those who are most at risk, he said, are the elderly and individuals with compromised immune systems.

On Tuesday, Gayles briefed the Montgomery County Council about the coronavirus. He said: "If you are an otherwise healthy individual where you have a healthy immune system — there's no reason to think your immune system is not intact and you can respond appropriately — you can contract COVID-19, develop those symptoms, be sick for a few days, but convalesce and do very well and return to your normal status of health before you contracted the illness."

According to the World Health Organization, coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning that they can spread between people and animals. In humans, symptoms of COVID-19 include a fever, coughing, and shortness of breath.

Gayles said the disease can spread: through the air by coughing and sneezing; through close personal contact (i.e., shaking hands); touching a contaminated object or surface and touching your mouse, nose, or eyes before washing your hands; and, rarely, feces.

According to Gayles, the death rate for people with no health problems is 0.9 percent. For those with high blood pressure and long-term problems, such as those caused by a lifetime of smoking, the death rate is 6 percent. The death rate rises to 7 percent and 11 percent in people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, respectively.

During Friday's news briefing, Montgomery County Council President Sidney Katz commended Gayles, saying "how fortunate we are" to have him, other county health officials, and the county's partners on a state and federal level working to combat the virus.

"We're certainly concerned. Our public health and safety providers have been consistently preparing and training for this type of situation at both the county and state level," Katz said. "We have the utmost confidence in their testing protocols and mitigation strategies. In addition the county's emergency management team has plans in place in the event that the virus impacts additional members of our community."

"We want to make it clear that this is not a crisis. Community members should not panic, but instead prepare as you would for any event that may keep you at home for two weeks," Katz continued. "This means doing things like making sure all your medications are up to date, having non-perishable food items in the home, and making contingency plans in case you or a loved one needs to work from home. We ask all of our residents to stay informed and to contact their healthcare provider if they have traveled internationally and have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Individuals can also call 3-1-1 for assistance."

Watch the live stream here.

This article may be updated.