The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
⏩ U.S. Surgeon General has tips for Connecticut.
As coronavirus closes in on Connecticut, the “nation’s doctor” was bumping elbows with public and health officials at the state health lab in Rocky Hill Monday, reiterating his request that healthy people stop buying face masks and get a flu shot.
And when it came to hands, his message was clear — wash them, don’t shake them.
It sounds basic, but those are the steps U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams repeated multiple times Monday during stops throughout the state, continuing a nationwide message of preparedness over panic.
“Part of my job as surgeon general is to help keep things in perspective,” Adams said. “In terms of keeping things in perspective, we want folks to know that your risk as an individual remains low. What we know is that there will be increased cases of coronavirus, and on an individual level, we know that basic public health precautions go a long way.”
During the trip, state Department of Public Health Commissioner Renée D. Coleman Mitchell said two patients were tested at the state lab over the weekend and both tested negative for the virus. The lab was approved to conduct testing last week, and Coleman Mitchell said the state has offered use of the lab to neighboring states.
As more surrounding states report instances of the virus, including cases in Manhattan, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and the death toll and diagnosis rate increases in the U.S., the state is doing all it can to raise awareness and help people be prepared.
Adams advised people to stop shaking hands, demonstrating an elbow bump with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gov. Ned Lamont, who also provided updates on the state’s preparedness.
“Right now I think we’re prepared, we’re ready and I just hope you take all the necessary precautions,” Lamont said. Lamont later joined a nationwide phone call with Vice President Mike Pence and other governors to hear an update on the virus. He said he planned to tell Pence the country needs a unified message at the federal, state and local level.
“He’s not the subject expert there but he’s convening those experts,” Lamont said.
Blumenthal reiterated his call for increased federal financial support for public health across the country, and again voiced his concerns about science denialism at the federal level.
“We are playing with fire if we fail to be prepared. Preparedness does defeat panic, but it also achieves health and that’s really what our goal has to be here,” Blumenthal said. “We need to invest in the CDC, the NIH, other public health measures and in the public health networks of our states and localities. that’s what makes us strong as a nation. we cannot shut down whole cities. we cannot tell people not to travel. We can be smart, strategic, and swift in our approach.”
It’s not too late to get a flu shot they said, and don’t bother with a mask. Adams said most people wear them wrong, which can actually increase risk of contamination, and hoarding masks can create a public health problem by limiting access for those who actually need them.
Adams, who washed his hands alongside Blumenthal and Lamont while singing “Happy Birthday” (the duration of the song is how long it is recommended to wash your hands effectively), also advised the public to keep surfaces like desks and tables clean, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth, and to practice “social distancing” by maintaining space between from anyone exhibiting symptoms.
“We can turn it into a little Tik Tok dance if we need to,” he said, referencing a viral video app popular among teens.
Adams reiterated that for most people who contract the virus, the illness will be mild. Those suffering from chronic illness, lung or heart disease or who are otherwise unhealthy, are at the highest risk for severe complications from coronavirus, he said.
Still, he said the U.S. is better off than many other countries, crediting aggressive containment strategies that have included invoking federal quarantine and limiting travel to the most affected countries.
“We know that risk is correlated directly with exposure,” he said. “You can’t get the coronavirus if someone around you does not have it.”
But containment only works well when the source is limited, he said. Now that more than 40 countries have reported coronavirus, containment strategies will only be so effective. Now, he is advising communities to think about steps they can take to limited the spread of the illness within their community when it does inevitably arrive.
“On a community level, we want state and local officials to be thinking about and dusting off their preparedness plans, and to be thinking about — if this does worsen — then what should we do in terms of closures, in terms of tele-work, in terms of canceling large gatherings,” Adams said. “We’re not there yet, but we want folks to be thinking about that in the event that it does happen.”