Communicable Disease Nurse Gives Talk On Coronavirus
Communicable Disease Nurse Gives Talk On Coronavirus
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Amanda Bridgman-abridgman@timesuniononline.com
Communicable Disease Nurse Gives Talk On CoronavirusInformation and a question-and-answer session about the coronavirus was held by the Kosciusko County Health Department Monday at the YMCA.
Teresa Reed, communicable disease nurse with the health department, spoke to the volunteer-led Celebrating Survivorship cancer support group and talked about what people can do to try to stay healthy.
Reed opened with quoting M. Leavitt from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate.”
Reed said she gets weekly, if not daily, messages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of Monday afternoon, four cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Indiana. Three patients are adults, and one patient is a juvenile, according to the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH). The individuals reside in Marion, Hendricks and Noble counties. The Marion and Hendricks patients are self-isolating, while the Noble County patient is hospitalized. In total, ISDH has tested 32 individuals, including three individuals whose tests were sent to CDC. Two adult patients have a recent history of travel to business events where transmission of COVID-19 has occurred, and the third adult patient also has a reported history of travel.
“This is the first time I’ve seen the CDC acknowledge to people that they need to do social distancing,” Reed said of warnings that people should try to avoid crowds and handshaking.
“In China, in January, I was following it very closely. They were doing things that we could not, would not do in our country,” she said. “Every continent has cases. You have to protect yourself. We need society to function, we need our stores to have food. If we can’t stop it, we want to slow it down.”
Reed said that while she doesn’t believe a mass lockdown would happen here, she does urge people to have enough supplies to last for two weeks. That includes water, food, toiletries, even medication.
“Social distancing” is important to helping slow the community spread, she said. Community spread is where doctors can no longer tell where a person with coronavirus got it from.
Reed said the people who are the highest risk for getting seriously ill from COVID-19 are older adults and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease.
Reed suggested people consider a room in their house that could possibly be used to keep a family member isolated if that becomes necessary. For Reed, she has a camper in her back yard that has a bathroom and television, and that is where she would keep a sick family member. She said if that’s something that’s possible for someone to do, it’s better because the camper has its own air and ventilation.
State health officials are urging residents to stop shaking hands, avoid touching their faces and to wash hands frequently.
Other things people can do to help prevent the spread of germs is to change their routine. For example, try to go to the store less, and plan to go at less busy times when less people will be out.
“I love when I see a handicapped door,” Reed said. “Because I push the button with my knee and then I don’t have to touch anything.”
Reed said she prefers handwashing for 20 seconds, but that hand sanitizer does work in killing this virus.
Symptoms for potential COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath. In Washington state, nearly 30 first responders were quarantined over coronavirus fears. Reed said if anyone thinks they have it, they should call before they go to the hospital or doctor so the sick person doesn’t sit in the waiting room and infect others, including staff.
“If we took 16 nurses out of KCH (Kosciusko Community Hospital) or Parkview, we’d have a problem,” she said.
Reed said face masks don’t really tend to help. The surgical masks protect the person around the sick person. She also said for those who have gotten a pneumonia shot, that won’t help.
“This virus likes to live in the throat and the lung tissues, so it goes into pneumonia faster,” she said.
Anyone who thinks they may have the illness would first be tested for Influenza A and Influenza B, along with talking to their doctor about their recent travels and other symptoms. Whether or not the person would get tested for the coronavirus is a decision the state Department of Health makes.
Sandy Lung, of North Webster, attended Monday’s session and said she thought it was excellent.
“Food wise, I don’t go to the store very often, and we stock up normally on cold medication in the winter,” she said. “I might not go as many places, though. And I’m certainly not flying.”
Judy Hartman, of Pierceton, said she’s not overly worried about it, but she does think it’s important to stay informed. She also said she’s stopped hugging people lately.
A vaccine is at least a year away, Reed said, so doing everything you can to help slow it down is important.
“It’s coming,” she said. “I just don’t think we’re gonna stop it.”
