5 Cold Connecticut Coronavirus Facts

If you have not heard about the Coronavirus then you are probably not reading this or anything else this week. The rest of you are feeling a sense of helplessness either surrounding the plummeting financial markets and/or the health and well being of you and your children. We cannot help you with the former but can provide some advice on the latter.

Coronavirus is actually the name of a group of viruses. The specific virus that is all the rage is the known as COVID-19.

We have been receiving a lot of calls from concerned parents. Most of these calls are due to the uncertainty out there. Therefore we wanted to get these 5 Cold Connecticut facts to you. We will be providing additional information as we learn more. For now consider the following

The Connecticut Coast is Clear

As of today, 2/27/20 , according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health ( CDPH) there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 . Here is an important link to the the CDPH for updates as they happen. https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Public-Health-Preparedness/Main-Page/2019-Novel-Coronavirus#CDC%20Fact%20Sheets

Protecting Yourself and Your children from Getting Infected By Coronavirus!

The first step would be to restrain from traveling to Wuhan, China. Once that is out of the way, you need to take the same precautions you would take to reduce the risk for getting the flu including

Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds ( hand sanitizer if soap and water are unavailable)

Wash your hands before touching your eyes, nose, mouth

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and dispose of the tissue in the trash immediately

Clean and and disinfect any frequently touched surfaces like computer keyboards, your phone and your steering wheel

Testing for COVID-19

Testing is currently reserved for anyone who is experiencing a cough, shortness of breath, fever and has travelled to China in the past 14 days. The testing is done through the CDC and has to be coordinated with the local health department In otherwords there are no routine tests.

However if your child is experiencing high fever , cough, runny nose and/or sore throat etc we can test for flu and strep.

Waiting for the Warm Weather

IT is not yet clear if the warm weather of spring will slow down the spread. Many viruses do slow down during the spring but it is not yet clear.

Who is at the highest risk for severe disease

So far it is the elderly with chronic conditions who are at the highest risk for severe complications.

For additional information refer to this link to the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Stuart C. Silverstein, MD is the Medical Director of Firefly Pediatric Urgent Care and is the author of Laughing Your Way to Passing the Pediatric Boards

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