It’s hard to miss all the national information about the coronavirus.
Worldwide, there have been around 100,000 cases and around 3,300 deaths. Across the United States, the impact has been limited and there have been no cases in Kansas so far.
Still, a lot of monitoring is underway, including area school districts. USD 251 North Lyon County Interim Superintendent Mike Mathes sent out a districtwide communication to parents earlier this week. He says the district is handling the potential for coronavirus as if the flu was prevalent.
Mathes hasn’t seen much in the way of comment. Neither has USD 252 Southern Lyon County Superintendent Mike Argabright.
Argabright says the district is waiting for official guidance from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. It’s also stepping up its plans to deliver education whenever a school building needs to be shut down for several days.
USD 253 Emporia is monitoring the situation and plans to divulge information after local health officials make a statement in the coming days. Representatives from Newman Regional Health and the Flint Hills Community Health Center will appear on KVOE’s Talk of Emporia on March 13.
Investors are being told to keep their current mix of investments, even if the actual stocks may change somewhat. Here’s Edward Jones financial advisor Greg Seibel:
The coronavirus has shaken financial markets with 2-percent to 5-percent swings commonplace over the last two to three weeks. Seibel says the markets have survived other major illnesses like SARS, MRSA, Ebola, swine flu and avian flu — all which pushed markets down initially, only to see markets rebound 20 percent to 30 percent the following year.
The United States has noted over 200 cases and 12 deaths. Symptoms develop anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure, including fever, cough and shortness of breath.
Current information is available at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.
