VA, DC Coronavirus Preparation Tips For Families, Homes

WASHINGTON, DC — The Centers for Disease Control has shared tips for residents of Virginia and the District of Columbia to lessen the chance that they contract the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. A top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official warned Tuesday that it is only a matter of time before the respiratory disease spreads to communities across the United States.

Six people in Virginia have tested negative for the disease, while state health officials wait for the results on two people.

"The potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is high, both globally and to the United States. But individual risk is dependent on exposure," the Virginia Department of Health said Wednesday. "For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low."

Virginia has no confirmed cases of new Coronavirus COVID-19.

Tips To Keep Coronavirus From Spreading:

• Stay home except to get medical care. Do not go to work, school, or public areas. Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.
• Separate yourself from other people and animals in your home. As much as possible, you should stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home. Also, you should use a separate bathroom, if available. Avoid contact with your pet. Wash your hands before and after you interact with pets and wear a facemask.
• Call ahead before visiting your doctor. This will help the healthcare provider's office take steps to keep other people from getting infected or exposed.
• Wear a facemask when you are around other people (e.g., sharing a room or vehicle) or pets and before you enter a healthcare provider's office.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw used tissues in a lined trash can; immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95 percent alcohol. Soap and water should be used if hands are visibly dirty.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95% alcohol, covering all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with others in your home. After using these items, they should be washed thoroughly with soap and water.
• Clean all "high-touch" surfaces every day, such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables. Use a household cleaning spray or wipe.

Dozens of travelers in Virginia have been or are under public health monitoring for exposure to the new coronavirus, the Virginia Department of Health said Tuesday. To date the department monitored 179 patients in Virginia who are potentially associated with the coronavirus, which now officially is called COVID-19. So far 76 patients have completed monitoring, while another 103 patients at low or medium risk are still under observation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting expanded screening for the virus at 20 airports across the U.S., including Dulles Airport. These airports cover about 90 percent of travelers arriving from China.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, told reporters in a conference call the question is no longer if the coronavirus, now officially called COVID-19, will spread across the United States but when that will happen.

Communities, schools and businesses in DC, Virginia and elsewhere should begin preparing now for “the expectation that this could be bad,” Messonnier said.

Related:

• 45 Virginia Travelers Monitored For Coronavirus Exposure
• Manassas Woman Tests Positive For Coronavirus On Cruise: Report

“I understand this whole situation may seem overwhelming and that disruption to everyday life may be severe. But these are things that people need to start thinking about now,” Messonier said. “You should think about what you would do for child care if schools or day cares closed.”

Related: Easy Ways To Avoid Getting Sick This Season

Globally, at least 80,000 people have been infected and 2,700 people have died from the new coronavirus, creating a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. It is spreading so quickly overseas that infectious disease experts and scientists warn there may be no way to contain it.

The CDC said Monday that 53 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the United States. Three dozen of the patients are among passengers repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined for weeks off the coast of Japan; three patients were infected in Wuhan, China, the center of the outbreak, and the others contracted the virus while traveling abroad.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news conference Monday the “sudden increase in new cases” outside of China is “deeply concerning.”

Flu Versus The New Coronavirus

The symptoms of the new coronavirus are similar to seasonal influenza, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Both are infectious respiratory illnesses, but they’re caused by different viruses.

Both cause fever, cough, body aches and fatigue, and can result in pneumonia. Both illnesses can sometimes cause vomiting and diarrhea. Both can be spread from person to person by sneezing, coughing or talking.

Common good-health practices such as frequent hand-washing, covering coughs and staying home from work or school during the course of the illness can help control the spread of both illnesses.

Neither responds to antibiotic treatment, but both may be treated by addressing symptoms, such as reducing fever. Both illnesses can be severe enough to require hospitalization.

But there are some distinct differences between the two:

Flu is caused by several different types of viruses, while COVID-19 is caused by the new coronavirus, which is also called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2.

Johns Hopkins says there is some evidence COVID-19 could be airborne, “meaning that tiny droplets remaining in the air could cause disease in others even after the ill person is no longer near.”

There is no vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus, as there is against influenza. Scientists around the world are racing to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus, although none currently exists.

A company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has shipped vials of its novel coronavirus vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease for further research.