COVID-19 VIRUS
It starts with a fever & a dry cough. Watch for that; not a cold.
The good news is that 80% of people have mild disease, the ones that get sicker do so after 5-7 days, so keep that in mind if you have a flu like illness.
https://ncov2019.live/data
Hygiene
Washington state warns voters they shouldn’t lick their mail-in ballots. Wash your hands as if you were just chopping jalapenos and you need to take your contacts out.
China Cases Declining: Lots of very useful information
“….The symptoms are most commonly fever and dry cough (not a runny nose and cold). The key is having an informed population, finding cases, rapidly isolating them. The faster you isolate cases is what breaks the chains. Making sure close contacts are quarantined and monitored until you know if they’re infected. It’s the close contacts, not everyone. Clustering happened: was it in a hospital, an old-age home, theaters, restaurants? We found it was predominantly in families…..”
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/2/21161067/coronavirus-covid19-china
Comic For Kids About CoronaVirus
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus
Darrah Blanton
Wiliiams Street
Here is a good, reliable, local source for information:
https://www.whatcomcounty.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1617
This website has links to other reliable websites.
1. If you think you might be getting sick, stay home! If you are sick with fever & dry cough, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care. Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.
2. If you show severe symptoms, phone before going to your doctor’s office or the ER.
3. Make plans and preparations now. You are probably safe, but community effort will vastly reduce the amount of harm/ disruption overall.
4. Buy enough supplies to allow you to stay inside 2-3 weeks if necessary (non-perishable food, household items, medication mostly). Don’t hoard; do share.
5. Wash your hands frequently, sterilize doorknobs etc. Soap and hot water work vastly better than hand sanitizer. You can make your own sanitizer, but soap works better.
6. You shouldn’t be stockpiling masks or other medical supplies. They are needed in hospitals to keep our healthcare workers healthy.
It feels like this is where the rubber meets the road for us as a community. Please help your neighbors. Stay in touch with them. Shop for folks who shouldn’t go out. You can make a plan with them to drop off groceries on their doorstep. Phone and give them a good listening to. That’s something we can all do for each other right now.
Calm voice, good sense:
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/preparing-for-coronavirus-to-strike-the-u-s/
LOCAL RESOURCES
[From neighbor Greg Hope, to the CERT group. Sharing with permission]
Official, reliable, local sources of information
· Whatcom County Health Department: http://www.whatcomcounty.us/3329/Novel-Coronavirus-COVID-19
◦ Fact sheets are available on this site in English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.
· Washington State Department of Health: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus
· US Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
The Whatcom County Health Department (WCHD) is reminding Whatcom residents to take steps to protect their health and prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections. At this time, WCHD is not recommending other community-based strategies for infection control, such as school closures or canceling large public gatherings or events.
No cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Whatcom County as of Monday afternoon. [Four people are being tested as of Wednesday night.]
For more information on novel coronavirus
This is an emerging outbreak with rapidly evolving information. Updates will be made as new information emerges on the DOH website and Whatcom County Health Department’s website. The Washington State Department of Health has established a call center to address questions from the public. If you have questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus is spread, and what to do if you have symptoms, please call 1-800-525-0127 and press #. You can also follow DOH & Whatcom County on social media.