Here’s what to know about the coronavirus that might be in Lawrence, Kansas
The novel coronavirus that has shut down an entire city in China, has U.S. airports screening travelers from China and is scaring a lot of people might have found its way to Kansas.
Now what?
Wash your hands.
The same advice that applies during flu and cold season is the first suggestion physicians offer to halt the spread of this respiratory illness first identified last month in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
On Tuesday the Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced that a person in Lawrence is being investigated for possible exposure to the virus. Missouri health officials say they have not identified any cases of the virus.
Though deaths have been reported in China, most people who get sick from the virus will recover on their own, says the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
People infected usually spread it to other people by coughing or sneezing, or through personal contact — such as touching or shaking hands.
You can get it, too, by touching something an infected person has touched and then touching your nose, eyes or mouth before washing your hands, says the Missouri health department.
The symptoms are the same as for a cold or the flu: a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever and a general feeling of being unwell, health officials say.
Avoiding the virus involves the same tactics for avoiding other respiratory infections:
▪ Wash your hands, often, with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
▪ Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth if you haven’t washed your hands.
▪ Use a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw that tissue away and — it bears repeating — wash your hands.
▪ Stay home.
“We are also advising residents that flu and other respiratory diseases are circulating in our state and are recommending everyone get a flu shot,” Kansas health secretary Lee Norman said in a statement.
As of Tuesday, more than a thousand cases of novel coronavirus had been confirmed in China, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 100 people there have died.
As of Monday, the CDC had positively identified five cases of the virus in the United States — in Washington state, Illinois, Arizona and California — with the results of 73 cases pending. Twenty-six states have had “people under investigation,” the agency said.
The unidentified patient in Lawrence returned to the United States within the last two weeks after traveling from Wuhan City, China, health officials said. It was not clear whether the patient is affiliated with the University of Kansas.
The person showed up Monday at LMH Health (formerly Lawrence Memorial Hospital) with symptoms of a respiratory illness. Given the patient’s recent trip to Wuhan and out of caution, the hospital alerted government health officials, hospital spokeswoman Amy Northrop said on Tuesday.
The patient is in isolation at the hospital. State health officials expect test results by the end of the week.
The virus is called “novel” because it’s new, and there’s still not a lot known about it, Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Kansas Health System, said in a statement.
People are looking for information. Last week Google reported that searches for “coronavirus symptoms” spiked more than 1,000 percent. The top two questions: What is coronavirus, and is it deadly?
Some people apparently think it has something to do with Corona beer. It does not.
Missouri health officials have been briefed by both the CDC and health officials in Washington state — where the first patient in the United States was identified — according to Randall Williams, director of the department.
Missouri and Kansas health officials are working with local health care providers to make sure testing is done on certain people, including those who have been in Wuhan within the last two weeks who develop a fever, a cough or have trouble breathing.
Those people should call ahead before they visit their doctor or an emergency room and say they have traveled to Wuhan, Williams advised in a statement.
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