Coronavirus is no cause for panic — but Missouri is unprepared if it spreads here

The Wuhan coronavirus has whipped up a media firestorm in recent days, with news sites such as CNN tracking the death toll as it has risen from a few dozen to more than 565 at the time of this writing. The new respiratory virus only appeared two months ago and has already resulted in travel warnings and restrictions both inside and outside China, and the World Health Organization has declared it a global emergency. While there is certainly cause for concern, we must keep a grounded perspective and prioritize public health.

As of yet, confirmed cases in the United States have been limited to cases of international travel connected to Wuhan, China, the virus’ origin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently confirmed person-to-person spread in the U.S. from a recent traveler to Wuhan to her spouse. However, we need not panic. If you have not traveled to high-risk areas of China within the past two months, or you do not know anyone who has, you are not at risk of contracting the virus.

It’s also important to remember that even those who have traveled to China recently are currently at low risk. In a country with a population of almost 1.4 billion, fewer than 30,000 have contracted the virus. That’s a miniscule fraction of the population, and only a fraction of that number have come down with serious or fatal cases. In contrast, in the United States, influenza (which is preventable with a flu shot) caused an estimated 35.5 million people to get sick, 490,600 to be hospitalized, and 34,200 to die during the 2018-2019 flu season.

So as Chinese Americans and expats go about their business, whether visiting a clinic for a routine checkup or shopping in a grocery store, we should not treat them as harbingers of a virus that has little chance of infecting them or anyone else. Profiling is profiling, and it is no more acceptable in this situation than in any other. Instead, get a flu shot — which does not cause the flu, by the way — if you have not already.

Other precautionary measures, such as hand washing and covering our coughs, can also prevent all manner of viral infections, including influenza, colds and coronavirus. It may seem trivial, but the most significant step we can take to protect ourselves from the spread of disease (aside from staying up to date with vaccines) is to wash our hands. There is a reason that we medical professionals drill this into peoples’ heads: Hand-washing works, as does covering coughs and sneezes. If everyone practiced those simple routines, we would effectively thwart the spread of many viral illnesses.

In addition to these precautions, know that a robust and well-prepared public health system is the best population-level defense against the spread of any emerging infectious disease outbreak. Public health professionals are the ones who conduct screening, investigate potential cases, follow up on high-risk contacts, track the spread of disease, issue quarantine and isolation orders and much more. Sadly, as the virus and resulting media attention turn their spotlights on public health, we illuminate a system that is underfunded and neglected. And Missouri’s system is in the darkest corner, with one of the most underfunded public health systems in the country. Unfortunately it takes a crisis for this neglect to become glaringly obvious.

Funding for new technologies is vital to sustain a clinical health system that is prepared for new challenges like the Wuhan coronavirus. The University of Missouri’s NextGen Precision Health Initiative — which is accelerating disease research with state-of-the-art technology and a collaborative approach — is a great first step. However, we need greater and more reliable funding at both the state and federal levels to bolster the basic public health structures that protect and maintain the public health of Missourians.

Over the coming weeks, public health workers, epidemiologists, researchers, nurses and doctors all over the world will be working around the clock to contain this virus. When the frenzy finally passes, let us not forget that all those professionals will still be hard at work, diligently laboring to anticipate and prevent the next public health crisis. Let’s reward them not only with praise, but with the funding they need to courageously combat diseases and save lives.

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Coronavirus is no cause for panic — but Missouri is unprepared if it spreads here."