FAQ: What You Need To Know As The Coronavirus Hits The Kansas City Metro – KCUR

The Kansas City area has its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus, a Johnson County woman who has been admitted to University of Kansas Hospital.

Health officials said Monday she is doing well and likely picked up the virus while traveling to the northeastern United States. That means COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, doesnt appear to be spreading throughout the metro community yet. (The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines community spread as occurring when it is not known how or where a person contracted the illness.)

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old woman in St. Louis County, Missouri, is self-isolating in her home after likely contracting the coronavirus while studying in Italy. However, county health officials say the womans father and younger sister violated a self-quarantine by attending a school dance.

If the headlines about coronavirus cases in Kansas and Missouri have you nervous, heres a few things you need to know.

Is my cough the coronavirus?

Unless youve traveled abroad recently, your cough is more likely the common cold or flu. Even though Kansas and Missouri both confirmed their first cases of COVID-19 this weekend, both cases were individuals who had traveled to places where community spread of the disease is occurring. Again, thats not happening right now in the Kansas City area.

But because the symptoms of COVID-19 sneezing, coughing and trouble breathing mimic other respiratory illnesses, further testing is needed to confirm coronavirus. (Heres what KCUR has reported on the availability of test kits in the metro.) Gary Salzman, a pulmonologist at Truman Medical Center, said if youre not running a fever, your cough probably isnt a cause for concern.

If you take your temperature, and you have a fever of 100.4 or greater, a cough thats been going on and trouble breathing, then contact your healthcare provider, Salzman said.

Thats key. You shouldnt just show up at the doctors office or emergency room. Call your primary care physician and let them know whats going on, and theyll provide you with further instructions. If you dont have a doctor, contact your local health department.

Whos most at risk of getting sick?

For most healthy people who contract the coronavirus, their symptoms will be mild. But older adults and people with chronic conditions, complications can be much more serious. The same is true for those who are immunocompromised, such as cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

As you get older, your immune system tends to wane, so youre not as good at fighting off infections, Salzman said. Older people need to take special precautions, but its not just an age thing. Its how healthy you are. You may have younger people in their 40s or 50s with diabetes, heart disease or lung disease who are at much higher risk for getting very sick as opposed to a healthy 70-year-old that doesnt have any chronic disease.

Children seem to be at less risk for COVID-19, said Dena Hubbard, a neonatologist at Childrens Mercy Hospital, but parents and caregivers should still emphasize good hygiene habits like handwashing. Coronavirus might not be spreading in the Kansas City area yet, but influenza is rampant in schools right now.

Should I cancel my spring break plans?

It depends. If your travel plans involve getting on a cruise ship or going to China, Iran, Italy or South Korea, prepare to self-quarantine when you get back. (These places all have widespread and ongoing transmission of COVID-19, according to the CDC.) That means: No work, school, crowded places or public transit for 14 days after you return from your trip.

Although none of the school districts KCUR has reached out to have said they were telling families not to travel, many were sharing the CDC guidelines ahead of spring break.

Students visiting countries under level 3 travel advisories with the CDC (currently China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran) from now through the end of the school year will be asked to stay home from school for 14 days upon their return to the country, the Hickman Mills School District said in a letter being sent to families Monday.

During these 14 days, students will not be penalized and will receive make-up schoolwork. This also applies to staff members traveling abroad, It is important to note that during these 14 days, students also may not participate in any school activities, programs, clubs, etc.

Other districts whose spring breaks are still two weeks or more away said they were monitoring the situation.

Do I need to hunker down at home?

The director of the CDC has warned that COVID-19 will cause substantial disruption to everyday life, but so far, community spread hasnt started in the Kansas City area.

That means for now, you should go about your life while taking reasonable precautions:

Wash your hands frequently, scrubbing for at least 20 seconds. (Thats singing Happy Birthday to yourself twice. When that gets boring, try these tunes.)

Avoid touching your hands and face.

Cover your mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough.

Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently. (This includes that phone we know you take into the bathroom with you.)

And if youre sick or running a fever, stay home.

Of course, community spread can happen rapidly. Two schools in St. Louis had to close on Monday after the father and sister of a coronavirus patient broke quarantine by going to a dance over the weekend.

Whats the difference between isolation and quarantine? And what do all those letters mean?

In the rush of new information, many news outlets and even doctors have sometimes used virus-related words in inconsistent ways, but these terms do have official definitions from the federal government. To be clear:

isolation when someone who is sick avoids contact with others to prevent the virus from spreading.

quarantine who someone who is not sick, but may have been exposed to the virus, avoids contact with others while waiting to see if they develop symptoms.

SARS-CoV-2 the official name given to the novel coronavirus virus in mid-February (short for severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2).

COVID-19 the disease caused by SARS-COV-2 (short for coronavirus disease 2019).

coronavirus a group of diseases that cause respiratory tract infections. Some coronavirus can cause the common cold, while others cause more serious illness like SARS or MERS. In recent weeks, however, the virus that causes COVID-19 has been commonly called the coronavirus.

presumptive positive a positive result on a test conducted by a state or other local lab that has not yet been confirmed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

confirmed a coronavirus-positive test result that has been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

investigation health providers determine who are persons under investigation. These are individuals who should be tested for COVID-19 based on their symptoms, travel history or potential exposure to the virus, or who are sick without other explanation. The criteria may be different in different places, depending on the status of the virus in the area.

What should I do if my skin starts cracking because of all that handwashing?

Dont laugh. Moisturizing is actually an important step in handwashing. If your skin starts cracking or peeling, soap and disinfectants dont work as well and youre also more susceptible to infection.

So make sure youre moisturizing your clean hands. Its fine to use a drugstore moisturizer like Vaseline or Aquaphor. (In fact, greasy lotions work well for this purpose, according to Slate and the Washington Post.) Get your own bottle or tube, and dont share it with anyone else, no matter how much your coworker begs.

Elle Moxley covers education for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.

See original here:
FAQ: What You Need To Know As The Coronavirus Hits The Kansas City Metro - KCUR