There are now around 250 reported cases of Coronavirus identified in the United States with 14 reported deaths.
There is still no reason to panic!
Sensible hygienic measures will do more to protect you from Coronavirus, or any other communicable disease, than running to an emergency room or a same-day clinic.
If you are showing significant symptoms - mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough, and shortness of breath - call your physician. The physician can order a test kit for you.
The CDC states it has tested hundreds and will be able to keep up with thousands of tests.
DO NOT GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM to demand to be tested. You are putting yourself in more danger for being infected with coronavirus – as well as being infected with the flu. Stay home.
We now have definitive evidence. Many people in the United States carry Coronavirus-19. The news is not a surprise to medical professionals. All the suggestions from my first blog on this remain in place. Each of us will interact with carriers every day.
1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. Don’t shake hands fist bump at most, a slight bow and nod is better.
3. If you think you are infected and becoming ill. Stay home. Call your physician or health department if you think you have any chance of having the disease.
4. Do not cram into an emergency room.
5. Avoid crowds.
Gloria Casale earned her medical degree from the University of Kentucky and completed advanced training in anesthesiology, preventative medicine, and public health. She received training in bioterrorism and bioterrorism response at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and is a recognized expert in the international transport of disease. Gloria also served as a consultant to the Division of Transnational Threats at Sandia Laboratory. Gloria also has been an invited speaker to members of the US military and various ports associations on the topics of bio-weaponry and the international transport of pathogens. She currently lives in New Mexico with her tuxedo cat Hugo.
Bioterror: The Essential Threat
For those of you interested in how the United States deals with situations like the Coronavirus, I've penned a novel, Bioterror: The Essential Threat. I wrote the book using my bioterrorism and bioterrorism response training at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. I am also a recognized expert in the international transport of disease. You can find the book on Amazon here.
Yuri Bushinikov, a renowned Russian genetics engineer, has gone missing, along with two vials from the Russian smallpox stockpile. Dr. Anne Damiano has feared this scenario for many years. Her warnings have been ignored by other, more powerful Public Health officials. They adamantly deny the possibility of a bioterror attack. Bushinikov, fueled by his concern for his young family, succumbs to an offer from Al Halbi, the director of the Syrian Institute for Science and International Security. Huge amounts of money and multiple false IDs for the biologist and each member of his family will ensure their dramatic escape from Russia. As directed, Bushinikov delivers the virus to an intermediary in Jakarta. Al Halbi plans to process the virus into a bioterror weapon that will destroy the Great Satan. Anne’s fear is rapidly becoming a reality. Death and mayhem aren’t Anne’s ideas of romance. Yet, when the Director of the CIA teams her up with her long lost love, Connor Quinlan, sparks, as well as bullets, fly. Anne and Connor must collaborate to stop Al Halbi's plan to inflict disease, mass terror, and death. Will they be too late to avert an international disaster?