Pa. health officials caution against panic, discourage travel as coronavirus cases climb
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As the number of presumptive positive coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania climbed to 11 early this week, health care officials are cautioning state residents to take standard precautions and not panic.
“Unfortunately, the panic mode has led to people buying all kinds of stuff from stores ... we’re talking about hand sanitizers, we’re talking about wipes, we’re talking about masks,” said Dr. Amit Mehta, medical director at Geisinger Health System in State College.
Local big box stores have seen their shelves wiped of hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, toilet paper, paper towels and masks. Target announced Monday it would limit the purchase of disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer in response to consumers stockpiling goods due to coronavirus fears, Bloomberg News reported.
Mehta said the research isn’t clear on whether masks play “any positive or negative role in spreading or containing the virus.” He stressed that medical personnel need masks the most, since they are seeing patients with potential infections. Those who are showing symptoms — including fever, cough or shortness of breath — of the new coronavirus COVID-19 should also wear a mask to protect those around them, he said.
While hand sanitizer will protect against the spread of infection, he said, people should choose sanitizers with 60% alcohol and higher.
And, in this time of spring breaks and getaways, he said to avoid all non-essential travel and handshakes, wash your hands before and after touching surfaces and eating and cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said people should practice healthy habits and prepare for the disease to spread.
“Further spread of this virus throughout the nation will likely occur,” she said in a press release Friday. “We encourage people to prepare for potential life disruptions. The same family emergency plans and kits that we use to prepare for flu or norovirus, and even snowstorms and floods, are important now.”
But, in a press release Monday, Levine added that Pennsylvania is prepared for the spread of the virus.
“Right now, you have a higher chance of testing positive for COVID-19 if you have traveled to a country or state with known community outbreaks or have come in contact with someone who has the virus,” she said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Pennsylvania has eight confirmed COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County, and one each in Monroe, Delaware and Wayne counties. There are no confirmed cases in Centre County.
With 761 cases of COVID-19 in the United States and 27 deaths spread across Washington, California and Florida, coronavirus test kits will be crucial in gathering more data on the disease and determining next steps, said Mehta.
“When the whole thing started, we did not have enough testing kits,” he said. Then, there were problems with the coronavirus test the CDC developed, which delayed testing further and had to be recalled. After several weeks, the CDC has issued new tests and is making them available to state and local public health labs around the country.
On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced increased ability to test for coronavirus cases at the state lab in Exton, in the southeastern part of the state. The lab has the capacity to test 150 cases, up from 25, per day.
“Once the test becomes easily available, you’re going to see a jump in the number of positive cases,” said Mehta. “You will see the spike, but our hope is that as the weather starts to get warmer this (disease) will slowly die off.”
Geisinger and most major insurance companies in Pennsylvania are covering all expenses associated with novel coronavirus testing.
Geisinger, along with other health systems in the area, is receiving daily updates on the “ever-evolving” coronavirus situation, said Mehta. Meetings between infectious disease specialists and administrators are happening on an almost daily basis, while staff and physicians are receiving education and training on the virus and how to manage its spread, he said.
The health system is also encouraging people who have COVID-19 symptoms to call ahead before visiting their primary care provider or a hospital.
But Mehta’s best advice?
“Please, please get the flu vaccine,” he said. “We are in the month of March, the (flu) season goes to May, the season is not over. We’ve had more than 25 million cases of influenza in the country.”
Because the flu and coronavirus have such similar symptoms, he said, getting your flu vaccine helps health care providers rule out influenza as a source of your infection.
He added, “Getting your vaccine at least gets you as much protection as you can get against influenza. Then, if you have symptoms and you have traveled to those countries where the (coronavirus) epidemic is ... then we can streamline or focus our resources and use the testing kits that are available.”
Resources
- Geisinger hotline — call ahead before visiting your primary care provider: (570) 284-3657
- Pennsylvania hotline — call if you believe you were exposed or have symptoms: 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258)
- Visit for updates on coronavirus related to Penn State University: sites.psu.edu/virusinfo
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
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