Still no reason for coronavirus panic says county health administrator
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
As of press time on Thursday, Feb. 27, stock markets are tanking, big city Chinatowns are deserted, and Golden State officials still can’t figure out how a Northern California woman contracted the potentially lethal coronavirus with no known connection to overseas travel – or any of the other known causes.
But Monroe County’s top health official has a message for area residents: Don’t panic.
And here’s why.
“As of right now there is no case of COVID-19 in Monroe County, nor has there been any such cases in Florida,” said Robert “Bob” Eadie, health officer and administrator of the Florida Department of health – Monroe, since 2007. “We consider the chances of the disease showing up here to be very low. So, any rumor to the contrary is just that. And I want to stress that the best, most accurate, and most up-to-date source of information is still https://www.cdc.gov/”
More specifically, Eadie said that while both the state and department have set up a command center, there are local plans to deal with a growing pandemic. Like many others, he is playing a waiting game; waiting for the virus, which emerged late last year from a food market in Central China, to peter out on its own – or become a declared global pandemic.
“COVID-19 is a novel strain, but coronaviruses have been around forever,” he said. “This one made the jump to humans, who have no immunity to it, because it never affected them before. Pandemics do occur; they’re kind of a fact of life, but they do also have their own natural life, and somewhat predictable cycle. The big problem is that the disease was not contained in China, and once they get out, it’s like opening Pandora’s Box.”
At first glance, a county as dependent on tourism as Monroe might appear to be extremely susceptible to a traveling menace such as the coronavirus. But visitors from overseas have already been screened at American airports. Cruise ship passengers, technically the purview of the U.S. Coast Guard, (who have assured the public they are taking the threat seriously,) undergo screenings at U.S. ports.
Domestic visitors, Eadie added, still need to have contact with another infected person, and the federal government is doing its best not to let any more of them into the country.
“The chances we’ll see a case in Monroe are very small,” Eadie stressed. “The screening efforts going on throughout the world and country make the possibility of it coming here very slight. It’s not impossible, but very improbable.”
The administrator also had some economic advice for a public buying up every surgeon mask in sight.
“[Surgeon] masks are a waste of money, if you’re trying to avoid contracting COVID-19,” he said. “Only an N95-type respiratory mask will protect you from breathing it in.”
The most important habits, it turns out, are the ones taught to Americans as schoolchildren.
“Wash your hands regularly with soap and water,” Eadie said. “And cover your mouth if you cough. Stay away from sick people and unnecessary physical contact, and isolate yourself if you are one of those afflicted.
He might have added, “And keep your fingers crossed.”
“It is kind of scary,” said District 5 City Commissioner Mary Lou Hoover, who hosted a meeting with her constituents on Feb. 26. “Because we’re so reliant on tourism. But we’ve had presentations from the Coast Guard and Health Department to bring us up to date, and they seem very much on top of what’s going on. We also discussed the issue at what was a well-attended, but polite, meeting. Everyone’s priority is the safety of our citizens.”
Eadie concurred.
“As all this is going on, we’re in the midst of a worse than usual flu season,” he said. “About 12,000 people have died from the flu already this year. It complicates things.”
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