About the New Coronavirus
What are coronaviruses
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illness from the common cold to more serious diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The new coronavirus (nCoV) is a new type that has never been known to humans. Many coronaviruses are naturally contagious to animals, but some can also be contagious to humans. Coronaviruses are thought to spread through the air by coughing / sneezing and close personal contact, or by touching contaminated objects or surfaces and then by touching the mouth, nose, or eyes.
What do we know about the new coronavirus?
There has been an outbreak of a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which first appeared in December 2019. The virus has spread to most countries of the world, including the United States.
Since it was a new coronavirus, health authorities are still learning about the virus and how it spreads. The situation is changing rapidly and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides updated information when available.
What is the difference between COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2?
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) refers to the virus, while Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) refers to the disease caused by the virus.
How is the new coronavirus treated?
There is no vaccine for the new coronavirus and no specific treatment or cure for COVID-19. However, many of these symptoms can be treated. COVID-19 patients should rest completely, drink plenty of fluids, eat healthy foods, and reduce stress.
Acetaminophen should be used to reduce fever and pain and pain. For severe cases, medical care may be needed to relieve the symptoms and support the vital functions of the organ until the patient is healed.
Transmission
Do I need to remember the infection with the new coronavirus?
We know that everyone is worried about the new coronavirus. What is known today is that the disease is in Santa Clara County and is transient, but importantly, it is unknown how widespread it is. The priority is to conduct public health monitoring to determine the extent of the spread locally. The public health lab now has the ability to test and now quickly evaluate what's happening in our community.
The County has worked with public health colleagues from the entire County Departments as well as from the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The County will continue to work with partners to respond to cases, to monitor contacts, and to understand what's happening in our community. The Emergency Operations Center has been active for several weeks and will continue to be active in response to this crisis.
How is it transmitted to people without symptoms?
Many studies have documented the spread of a person without symptoms (up to 48 hours before symptoms begin). Therefore, a person with COVID-19 may be at risk if they are in close contact (within 6 feet of a prolonged period) with a person who has been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, for up to 48 hours before initiation. the symptoms. People are still thought to be most contagious when they are most infectious (the sick). These findings emphasize the importance of following the pathology to other people because people without symptoms can be contagious.
Symptoms
What are the symptoms of the new coronavirus?
Symptoms include fever, fatigue, cough, and muscle or body aches. The disease can develop shortness of breath and complications from pneumonia. Symptoms may also include nausea, vomiting, chills, nausea, nausea, sore throat, headache, confusion, or loss of taste or smell. Some infected patients only experience mild symptoms while others - especially older individuals and those with underlying health conditions - may have more severe symptoms. Symptoms can develop 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.
If you have emergency warnings for COVID-19, get medical attention immediately. Emergency alerts include:
Breathing problems
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
New confusion or inability to arouse
Blue on the lips or face
* This list is not complete. Please consult with your medical provider for any other symptoms that are serious or troubling
Coronavirus test (COVID-19)
(Note: Information may change with the speed of events.)
The Department of Public Health strongly supports expanding the trial presence for COVID-19. The current lack of extensive testing capacity nationally and locally negatively impacts our ability to monitor the epidemic, focus on ways to reduce the spread, and inform individuals about their infection status. Unfortunately, local and national testing resources may not grow to the extent we expect, and not all patients may be diagnosed at this time.
Occupational Testing in Public Health Laboratory
In Santa Clara County, we received CDC approval to conduct the first COVID-19 trial at our public health laboratory on February 26, 2020. The role of the local public health laboratory is limited: it serves as a specialty of laboratory reference that offers testing for emerging infections such as COVID-19 and as a temporary laboratory as we await other sectors of the laboratory (commercial and academic). For example, at the start of the West Nile Virus epidemic, only public health laboratories were tested for West Nile Virus. Soon after, testing for West Nile Virus was offered widely in the commercial sector. In the United States, unlike other countries, high-volume testing is done exclusively by commercial private-sector labs.
The County public health laboratory can run a maximum of 100 tests per day. We receive all of our test kits from CDC. The number of patients we can test is less than the number of test kits. The reason for this is that some tests are used as control and many samples need to be submitted for each patient to ensure accurate results. The lab, physically and otherwise, is not structured to increase commercial volume testing. As a result, the current focus of public health laboratory testing is to ensure that patients in the hospital are tested, as well as people living or working in high-risk areas, such as long-term care facilities , healthcare professionals, and first responders.
Testing Outside of the Public Health Laboratory
Started testing large commercial laboratories and testing patients in many different private and public healthcare systems and test collection areas. There are some companies that run specimen collection areas but do not do their own testing; instead, they send the specimens to commercial labs for testing
A new regional order requiring March 24, 2020 requires all laboratories testing for the new coronavirus to report all positive, negative, and incurable results to local and state health officials. Prior to this order, only positive test results were required to be reported to the County Public Health Department. This limits our ability to know the total number of people living in Santa Clara County being tested. This law ensures that local, regional, and statewide public health officials can use the information needed to understand, predict, and combat the spread of COVID-19.
What do we know about the extent of COVID-19 prevalence in Santa Clara County?
The rise in confirmed cases over time, as well as other data points, suggests that the virus is now widespread in our county. Due to limited testing capacity, the Public Health-focused laboratory focuses on testing patients with more serious illnesses and high-risk, critical roles such as healthcare workers and first responders. Because of this fact, and because we do not test people without symptoms, the number of cases we see through testing is only a fraction of the total number of people infected in the county. In addition, because we primarily treat patients in the hospital, the cases we see are more likely to be seriously ill and hospitalized.
Why doesn't the Department of Public Health report the location of people who are tested positive?
Our current data indicate that the virus is widespread in the county and, therefore, all people in the county are at risk for virus exposure regardless of where they live in the county. Every hospital in the county cares for patients with COVID-19. Information on individual cases is of no benefit to the public, and can instead mislead non-residents of a neighborhood with many proven cases to mistakenly think they are at lower risk.
As noted above, the Department of Public Health requires that laboratories conducting COVID-19 tests report both positive and negative results, along with other basic information, so that we can better understand if there are any places in the community that are experiencing more contagious disease.
How long does it take to receive results?
This varies across different laboratories and the number of specimens awaiting trial. The Public Health Laboratory usually results within 24 hours of receiving a sample.
Thats all, thank you admin. GOD BLESS.