To the people out there who are
panicking about Coronavirus, my biggest
advice is to not panic. Coronaviruses
describe a large family of viruses. These
viruses are responsible for most of the
common colds that circulate every year.
COVID-19 is a very specific coronavirus
which is new and was first described at
the end of 2019. Symptoms of COVID-19
specifically are fever, shortness of
breath, and cough. Other people have described a runny nose, congested
nose, sometimes sore throat and
occasionally diarrhea. The virus spreads
through respiratory droplets and can
spread person-to-person through either
coughing or sneezing. We also know the
virus can live on respiratory droplets
that do fall onto surfaces: laptops,
doorknobs, counters. It is possible for
people to become infected by the virus
by having touched a surface where there
is respiratory droplets containing the
virus and then touching their face, eyes,
nose, or mouth. The mortality rate for
COVID-19 right now, we think is about 2
to 3%. That may change as testing
increases, especially in the continental
United States, so I think that number we
will know more about in the upcoming
weeks to months. Some people who might be
at higher risk for particularly
complications of the virus are older
people or those with chronic underlying
medical conditions, so we think about
heart disease, diabetes, maybe lung
disease, COPD, cancer, and chronic
conditions like that. UAB
particularly, as it relates to coronavirus,
right now we are preparing for any
cases that we may have coming through
our health system. We have plans in place
to screen patients before they even
enter our health system, whether it's the
clinic, the ER, or our urgent cares, and
then we have
plans in place for what we are going to
do as a health system if we do have
widespread COVID-19 activity and how we
are going to support our community. As of right now, we do not have any confirmed
cases of coronavirus 19 in the state of
Alabama. It's a rapidly evolving
situation with new cases popping up
around the country. Yesterday the first
case was announced in Tennessee, and so
we are actively monitoring the situation.
And if we do have a confirmed case of
COVID-19 in the state of Alabama then
our state and local health officials
will let the public know. Some
preventative measures that everyone can
take it includes washing your hands, well
and often, with either soap and water or
hand sanitizer. Make sure you wash your
hands for at least 20 seconds, and the
CDC has excellent visuals on the best
ways to wash your hands. Otherwise we
know that this respiratory virus can
live on frequently touch surfaces. So, 
make sure that you disinfect commonly
touched surfaces at least once a day or
so. If you're sick, we recommend that you
stay home for at least 24 hours after
you have your last fever without using
things like Tylenol or other
anti-inflammatories to break your fever.
And if you're sick, make sure you call
your healthcare provider before being seen
at a physician's office. Otherwise, as
best you can, try and avoid being around
people who may be sick. If you yourself
are coughing or sneezing, make sure you
use a tissue or the sleeve of your
clothes to cough or sneeze into,. not your
hands. And try as best you can not to
touch your face with unwashed hands.
There are a lot of myths circulating on
social media, so I would recommend
everyone obtain their information from
very validated sources. The CDC's website
has some great information on it for the
viewers. Also, your state health
department's have websites with some
excellent information. And with any other
questions you can call your health care
providers, as well. I think everyone
should have plans in place for what they
themselves may do if cases of COVID-19
do pop up in their communities. I think
it's a good idea to have discussions
with your employers,
children's schools, child care facilities
about their emergency operation plans
and what they may do if we do see
circulating COVID-19 in our
communities. To the people out there who are panicking about coronavirus, my
biggest advice is to not panic.
There is nothing right now to panic
about. Instead, what I would encourage
everyone to do is to start having some
discussions and some plans in place for
what to do and how to prepare in the
event that we do see community-wide
spread of COVID-19 in our areas, so that
includes talking with family members,
talking to neighbors, talking to anyone
who may be at higher risk of serious
complications for COVID-19 and having
some backup plans in place.
I think it's an okay idea to have some
extra supplies in your home just in case
people are needing to be quarantined in
their home if they develop symptoms, so
having a little bit of extra supply of,
you know, food, paper products,
prescription medications, and other
essential items that they may want to
have just a little bit of extra supply of.
