No one in Virginia has tested positive for the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but officials are assuring Virginians they’re prepared for if - or when - the disease comes to the state.
According to officials at a press conference Wednesday, 17 Virginians have been tested for the disease. Fourteen of those came back negative and three results are still pending.
Governor Ralph Northam says the state is taking the threat of coronavirus seriously and wants to reassure Virginians that officials are prepared.
“We all agree that Virginia will have the resources that we need to respond,” he said.
State health officials added the immediate risk for most people in the U.S. is low and that symptoms are similar to the flu. Secretary of Health Daniel Carey says children don’t seem to be heavily impacted, and the vast majority of cases have been mild.
“The chances are far and away that (people who have it) will… stay at home and recover in seven, or ten, or fourteen days and then go about their business,” Carey said, speaking after the press conference.
Carey added that numbers from China show about 15% of those infected become critically ill, and that the chance of dying is about 1%. That’s significantly higher than the flu, which has a death rate of about .1% according to Carey.
“So it is, on a population basis, more likely to cause serious complications than influenza,” he added.
Click here for more COVID-19 information from the Virginia Department of Health
This week, state officials have gotten their hands on the test used to determine if someone has the disease. That means they no longer have to send samples to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
“Now we have couriers that are available 24/7 that can go and get a specimen and take it to the state lab here in Richmond and get a result 3 or 4 hours later,” Carey explained, saying the faster turnaround time could help prevent the disease from spreading.
In the end the Governor, a doctor, gave the same advice any doctor does: wash your hands thoroughly and frequently and stay home when you’re sick.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
