Local officials worry about flu over coronavirus
OTTAWA COUNTY — As more cases of coronavirus COVID-19 are diagnosed in China, local officials are prepared in the event the virus spreads.
There have been few cases of COVID-19 — the name that has been assigned to this particular coronavirus — confirmed in the United States, and no confirmed cases in Michigan as of Wednesday, Feb. 19. The CDC states that there have been 15 positive cases in the U.S., 412 negative tests and 52 pending cases.
Confirmed cases have occured in Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Arizona and Washington.
Still, local and state officials have been monitoring the situation and putting together a plan just in case.
The Ottawa County Department of Public Health has been “working closely” with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to monitor the situation and is prepared to “respond immediately” if a potential case pops up in Ottawa County, OCDPH spokesperson Kristina Wieghmink said.
The CDC would report any possible cases in Michigan to MDHHS, who then would enter it into a database at which time the county would be notified, Wieghmink said.
The CDC has identified risk levels for people based on a number of factors that help advise what steps to take regarding a potential case.
“Depending on risk level, it could be monitoring or self quarantine,” Wieghmink said of any theoretical cases locally. “If they are higher risk, we would send in testing data to the state or the CDC. While that’s going on, we would be coordinating with healthcare providers, we’d coordinate with primary care doctors and hospitals. We can share the risk level, making sure proper quarantine procedure, including personal protections.”
The CDC states that the risk of COVID-19 spreading to the United States is currently low. The COVID-19 strain of coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
There have been other coronavirus strains in the past, but Ottawa County has not had reports of any in its recent communicable disease reports, Wieghmink said.
While COVID-19 is getting people’s attention, local officials say there is a more pressing illness that Ottawa County residents should worry about — the flu.
"Right now there have been no cases of COVID-19 reported in Ottawa County,” senior epidemiologist Derel Glashower said. “However, people should be vigilant about preventing flu since there have been thousands of influenza-like illnesses reported throughout the county.”
“We’re especially seeing a more severe season this flu season,” Wieghmink said. “We remind residents to be mindful about preventing the flu.”
The best way to prevent the flu, according to OCDPH, is to get a flu vaccine. Despite being well into the season, it is not too late to get the vaccine.
“It’s still a good time to get it,” Wieghmink said. “We’re about in the peak season right now. We could continue to increase through March, then it typically dies out in April or May.”
To prevent many other respiratory illnesses, including flu, people should wash their hands often with soap and water, cover their coughs and sneezes and stay home when sick. Weekly flu reports can be found at miOttawa.org/HealthData.