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Town Health Department Briefs Selectmen on Coronavirus

As the United States and the world as a whole continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus, officials in Greenwich are putting measures in place to keep residents safe.

Last week, Town Director of Health, Caroline Calderone Baisley, briefed the Board of Selectmen about the very fluid and rapidly changing situation regarding the disease.

The coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a respiratory disease that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in 60 locations internationally, including the United States. The disease, related to SARS, most likely originally emerged from an animal source in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, but is now spreading from person-to-person.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent infection. It can be spread between people who are in close contact with one another through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can also be contracted by touching surfaces that have the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or possibly eyes, although this is not perceived to be the main way the virus spreads.

Symptoms, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath, may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Symptoms are similar to the common cold or influenza, and can range from mild to severe. The disease is more dangerous with age, and for those with other medical conditions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best way to avoid infection is to avoid close contact with people who are sick; avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; stay home when you are sick; cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash; clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.

During the week of February 23, CDC reported community spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 in California (in two places), Oregon and Washington. “Community Spread” is when some people have been infected who are not sure how or where they became infected.

“The word pandemic is kind of scary because it tells you it’s something that’s a fear, and it is,” Baisley told the Board of Selectmen last week. “You’ll hear that word in the weeks and months to come that we have a pandemic. The last time you heard that was in 2009 when we had the pandemic influenza outbreak.”

A hotline will be set up for Greenwich residents to call if they have any questions about the virus. There is also copious amounts of information on the Health Department website about the virus, with links to what the state and federal levels are doing about it.

Baisley said the jury is still out on how the disease will progress.

“If it starts to take off, you go from containment to mitigation. Mitigation is to more or less defray the seventy of the disease as it takes off, and the measures you put in place to slow it down,” she added, noting that in 2009, she put into place some restrictions on the congregation of large groups of people. “It all depends on the severity of the disease. The more you confine, the less you allow it to circulate. It’s only done when you have to do it, but when you have to do it it’s short term hopefully, and then your cases will start to drop.”

Baisley said the town is taking early preventative steps, but it’s all a part of the overall emergency preparedness plan, which is followed during big storms.

“We’re gearing up to do a little bit more than usual, but when you start early on these things people start to get frightened and a panic sets in,” she said. “The worst thing you want to do is panic your public, because you need the public to listen when you speak, and tell them what to do when you need to do it. We’ve already built that in, and we’re moving at a pretty good clip.”

Baisley pointed to the Department of Health’s sponsorship of the town’s Medical Reserve Corps. (MRC), which is a public health focused unit whose primary roles are to assist in local public health initiatives, promote and enhance emergency preparedness among residents and businesses, and to respond to public health and other town emergencies.

“We have an outstanding number of medical personnel — doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses — all levels of medical personnel, who have signed on to help the town during a case like this,” Baisley remarked. “They participate with us in drills, and we meet with them every June. It’s very refreshing to see how many people are committed to this town. It makes me feel confident we can handle something out of the ordinary with help. The hospital deals with the hospital; they have to care for patients, they don’t come into the community. That’s our job.”

The Health Department has also started outreach with the town’s elderly and special needs population to inform them of what’s going on.

Schools in Greenwich are also doing their own outreach, especially with spring break approaching.

“Should the school need to close temporarily due to disease outbreak, we are prepared to operate on a distance-learning basis for classes as needed,” said Sacred Heart Greenwich Head of School, Pamela Juan Hayes, in an email to parents. “We have our eye on the upcoming March break for two reasons. First, we will use it as an opportunity to make sure the School is fully sanitized beyond our regular, daily cleaning schedules. Second, we know many of you are traveling with your families and many students are traveling on school-related trips for extracurriculars, athletics and more. As these trips approach, we’ll be in touch with students and families regarding any travel precautions and/or other considerations as appropriate.”

As of Monday evening, there were Level 3 nonessential travel recommendations to China, Iran, South Korea and Italy; a Level 2 notice to Japan, and Level 1 to Hong Kong.

“Please note that if your child or family is traveling to a destination with increasing cases of COVID-19, GCDS will follow CDC and World Health Organization recommendations regarding quarantine upon students’ and employees’ return from Spring Break,” said Adam Rohdie, Headmaster for Greenwich Country Day School, in a letter to the school community. “At this point, our group trip to Rwanda chaperoned by our teachers and parents will proceed as planned.”

Rohdie also said the school will use spring break to thoroughly clean facilities, and stressed the fact that GCDS is not equipped to evaluate for coronavirus at school upon return from travel.

“Should you have any concerns of having been exposed to the virus and/or any symptoms, you are strongly urged to contact your physician before having any child return to campus,” he said.

Baisley encouraged Greenwich residents to adhere to travel restrictions and recommendations. Town officials will have regular meetings with the Department of Health to receive updates on the virus.

For more information on the Greenwich Health Department and the coronavirus, go to greenwichct.gov and the Health Department tab.

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