SALISBURY – Efforts to prepare local government agencies in the event of a novel coronavirus outbreak in the community highlighted a county council meeting this week.
On Tuesday, Wicomico County Health Officer Lori Brewster presented the Wicomico County Council with an update on the novel coronavirus outbreak and local preparations that are currently underway.
“I want to emphasize here that the public health threat both here and across the U.S. remains low …,” she said. “We are continuing planning to respond in the event that there is a case in Wicomico County.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China late last year.
Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) are being reported in a growing number of countries, including the U.S. And while there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maryland as of Wednesday afternoon, Brewster said state and local officials are preparing to address any coronavirus cases.
“In January, we began having our teleconferences with the Center for Disease Control as well as the state health department to look at what we needed to do to prepare for this outbreak,” she said. “This is rapidly evolving day to day at this point.”
Brewster said symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
“Illnesses are ranging from absolutely no symptoms to severe illness and death,” she said. “We believe there are people throughout the world that are walking around that have the virus and they don’t know it because they are not becoming ill.”
There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, and prevention centers on frequent handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, and separating people who have respiratory symptoms.
Treatment for COVID-19 includes the use of over-the-counter fever-relievers, drinking plenty of fluids, and resting at home to help relieve symptoms. Those with more severe symptoms may be hospitalized to provide additional support.
“One of the things that I asked of the county leaders today is to relax your sick leave policies so that people don’t feel like they have to report to work,” Brewster said, “or don’t tell them ‘I understand you are sick but come in anyway.’”
Brewster said she had met with county leaders to distribute information on handwashing. She said she also will be meeting with Wicomico County Emergency Services Director David Shipley and other agency leaders in the coming days.
“David Shipley and I are pulling together a group of agencies to do a briefing with them and look at their anticipated needs in the event that we have a COVID case in Maryland and if we have a COVID case in Wicomico County,” she said.
Brewster told the council the local health department is responsible for fielding phone calls from individuals who are ill and doing the preliminary investigation to rule out the need for testing.
“We have had people ask for testing in Wicomico County, but they didn’t meet the definition,” she said. “They actually tested positive for seasonal flu.”
On Tuesday, Governor Larry Hogan announced that Maryland’s State Public Health Laboratory has been approved for COVID-19 testing. Rather than waiting for test results from the CDC labs in Atlanta, Ga., people who are suspected of having COVID-19 may be diagnosed faster through the Maryland Department of Health labs in Baltimore.
The announcement is one of many from the Hogan administration regarding the recent coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, Hogan also announced plans to introduce emergency legislation granting him the authority to transfer resources from the state’s rainy day fund for Maryland’s novel coronavirus response. The emergency legislation allows the governor to transfer up to $50 million from the Revenue Stabilization Account to fund costs associated with COVID-19.
The governor on Wednesday also announced that the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is raising its activation level to “Enhanced” in order to mobilize additional resources across state government.
“Given the rapidly evolving nature of this threat to public health, it is critical that we have the flexibility to immediately access these resources,” Hogan said. “I want to continue to assure Marylanders that our state is taking every precaution when it comes to the coronavirus.”
For more information about COVID-19, visit www.cdc.gov or www.wicomicohealth.org.
“We are doing a lot of communication,” Brewster said. “Visit our website or Facebook page and you will see COVID-19 all over the place because we want the community to understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
