With all the activity surrounding coronavirus across the country this week — as well as the questions, challenges to information and statements about overblown media coverage — KVOE used Friday’s Talk of Emporia to get the facts about the virus, why it’s being treated the way it is, what happens with the testing process and more.
Lyon County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program Director Jennifer Milbern says health officials know some things about COVID-19, are pretty sure about others and still have unknowns about other aspects of the virus. On the known list: the virus started in China and generally hits people over age 60 or with compromised immune systems much harder than younger, healthy people. On the likely list: the disease started in animals, mutated and was transmitted to humans. On the unknown list: how long it spreads and how long people can be contagious.
Unlike the flu, nobody has a built-up immune system to COVID-19.
Milbern says the number of coronavirus cases is well below those of the flu, but the coronavirus mortality rate is actually 10 percent higher than the flu.
Part of the reason the coronavirus response has been questioned is the symptoms, which resemble more common illnesses like the cold or flu, according to Lyon County Public Health Medical Support Manager Melissa Smith.
Both Smith and Newman Regional Health Infection Preventionist Ester Knobloch say there has been an increase in calls from people who have questions about symptoms. There are tests at Flint Hills Community Health Center and at Newman Regional Health, but Knobloch says all the tests are done in Topeka and people need to have symptoms to be tested. There is also a screening process.
Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell said the extra steps taken this week are needed, given the unknowns mentioned beforehand.
Across the state, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says there are six cases, including a man who died at a Wyandotte County hospital. Worldwide, there are now over 125,000 cases.
The full audio is online in the KVOE.com Audio Vault.
Go to KVOE.com’s coronavirus Closings and Cancellations page for numerous information links, including those for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
