Ocean County Health Officials Keeping Tabs On Coronavirus

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As worries about the 2019 Novel coronavirus continue to draw attention, officials with the Ocean County Health Department said they are paying close attention to the developments with the illness.

On Saturday, New York City health officials confirmed a person has been hospitalized and was undergoing testing for the virus that has killed nearly 260 people in China. The person was identified as possibly having the virus because they recently traveled from China and presented with fever, cough or shortness of breath without having the flu or a cold virus, health officials said in a news release.

There are now eight confirmed cases in the United States and over 12,000 worldwide.

There currently isn't a vaccine or anti-viral response for 2019-nCoV and health experts are still working to better understand how it spreads, the severity of associated illness and other crucial characteristics, said Brian Lippai, spokesman for the Ocean County Health Department. The outbreak first emerged in Wuhan, China.

"The World Health Organization declared this outbreak an international global health emergency, but the threat is very low at this point for us here in Ocean County and the rest of the country," said Daniel Regenye, the public health coordinator for the county health department. "But because this is such a new virus, there is so much to learn and manage in a rapidly evolving situation."

The 2019 Novel coronavirus is a respiratory illness that that health experts believe is spread much like cold viruses. So far, only one case in the United States was discovered to be a person-to-person transmission. Meanwhile, the new coronavirus is similar to influenza.

The county health department is recommending you protect yourself much like the flu should we experience an impact locally.

• Remember to wash your hands regularly.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve, not your hands.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
• Stay home if you are sick and avoid sick people.
• Clean and disinfect regularly.
• Review and follow travel advisories from the Centers for Disease Control when planning travel. If you become ill after returning home to the United States, call your health care provider before going to a doctor’s office or emergency department of a hospital. They may want to place a mask on you before you enter the building to protect other people.
• Get a flu shot - it's not too late to be protected.

"The risk of the new coronavirus to the general public remains low at this time. The CDC is working hard to identify any new cases in the United States, but here in Ocean County we should all remain vigilant by taking the necessary precautions to prevent any further illness from spreading," Regenye said.

For up-to-date information on the 2019 Novel coronavirus, there is a link on the upper right of the county health department website that leads you to the state health department's page on the illness.

You can also find additional information on the CDC website.

The Ocean County Health Department is keeping in close contact with Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the New Jersey Department of Health to get all the latest information as it becomes available and then to pass it along to public health providers, schools administrators, community leaders and public officials.

With reporting by Megan VerHelst, Patch Staff.

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