On Tuesday, Polk County Public Health (PCPH) Director Sarah Reese provided an update on coronavirus to the Polk County Commissioners. Reese said that while no cases are present in Minnesota, PCPH is working with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and World Health Organization (WHO). “Polk County is part of a multi-layered response that includes Minnesota and the United States as a whole,” said Reese. “We are working with the MDH, CDC, and WHO to monitor what is happening with COVID-19, which is commonly referred to as the coronavirus. We are happy to say at this point that there are no cases in Minnesota, and while there are no cases, we know that could change at any time.”
Currently, PCPH is asking the public to follow the precautionary steps for respiratory illness, such as washing one’s hands explained Reese. “We are asking the general public to take steps to prevent becoming ill from any respiratory illness, be it influenza, coronavirus, or other respiratory illnesses,” said Reese. “A few things I would recommend are to practice good hand hygiene using soap and water. To avoid touching our face, eyes, nose, and mouth. To cover our cough and to stay home if we are sick.”
Reese said there are plans in place that would be enacted should coronavirus become present in the area. “Right now, we’re asking people to remain alert to the everchanging situation since we don’t have any cases,” said Reese. “Should we have cases, just like with other infectious diseases, we have plans in place with the MDH, our health care and other community partners including mental health and public safety to be able to respond to whatever presents itself. We’ve seen cases starting to pop up across the United States, so we, being the United States and the world, have been using a containment strategy where we are trying to reduce both the spread and severity of the illness. As well as to lower the impact on our health care system and infrastructure.”
Reese added that there is still a lot that is unknown about the coronavirus, so she suggests taking standard precautions and looking at what missing a number of days from school or work would like for individuals. “It’s a novel virus, so there is a lot we don’t know about the virus,” said Reese. “So, all the more reason for us to be prepared and continue talking about those standard precautions – washing your hands, staying home if you’re sick, etc. As well as to look at what it would like for your family or individual situation if you couldn’t go to work for a series of days, your child couldn’t go to school or if you’re a caretaker for someone. We want to remain calm. We have people who are monitoring the situation. We are in great communication with our health care partners and the MDH. And we’re confident that we have plans, that we practice our plans regularly and are working together to keep the public safe.”
Businesses can also create plans for dealing with the coronavirus and can reach out to PCPH for help creating those strategies said, Reese. “We’re also providing guidance to partners,” said Reese. “And if we can’t answer that question, we use the incident command system, so we’d go to our partner at the MDH to get further guidance. One of the areas I mentioned we’ve had a few questions around is our business sector. We have many businesses that have international travel and about doing business locally. So, folks have been asking what they can do in their business. We can provide guidance if they have particular questions. We ask businesses to promote respiratory etiquette encouraging people to stay home if sick, good handwashing. We’d certainly encourage routine environmental cleaning for coronavirus or any other respiratory virus like influenza. If businesses do have international travel check with the CDC about travel notices before traveling. Think about or assess their capacity to work from home if they needed to, also, to think about if they had employees who needed to be out of work for a series of days how could their business plan adapt and adjust to that. There are business kits that are available that we can recommend for businesses to look at, or we can answer local questions as well.”
Further information on the coronavirus can be found on the MDH website or the CDC website. Polk County Public Health can be reached by calling 218-281-3385.
