As of 1 p.m. Friday, March 13, test results show that two Maine residents have tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus. Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support this mission by purchasing a digital subscription.
It sounds almost too simple, doesn’t it? I mean, here is a novel virus — a type of coronavirus no one in the world has been exposed to before — and the big piece of advice is to wash your hands. How can that be effective?
I don’t know about you, but when I started singing “Happy Birthday” twice as I soaped up, I realized what a slapdash job I had been doing. I definitely wasn’t washing for 20 seconds.
Have you tried not touching your face? The habits of a lifetime are so hard to break.
Of course, I work in an office, where infection control isn’t the primary concern. The folks at our member hospitals, however, are very used to washing their hands for 20 seconds and rewashing after they touch something.
In fact, Maine hospitals have been preparing for an outbreak just like COVID-19. They have systems in place. They have appropriate equipment and are prepared to treat the patients who will inevitably arrive.
[Do you have questions about the coronavirus? Ask us here.]
Hospitals are required by state and federal licensing agencies to have plans for managing a surge of patients, to provide training in the proper use of personal protective equipment, to drill to test those plans, often with local police, fire and emergency medical services and public health officers.
Maine hospitals have infection control plans and procedures in place. Those procedures are closely evaluated by state and federal inspectors. Maine hospitals are ready for this outbreak, just like we were ready for H1N1, SARS, MERS and Ebola.
Our hospitals are working with one another and public health officials to ensure we have the latest information and resources.
But we need your help to slow the spread of COVID-19. You don’t need to do or buy anything special. Just wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds with regular soap and water. If you aren’t near a sink, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer. If you can’t find hand sanitizer, you can easily make your own by mixing 1/3 cup aloe vera gel with 2/3 cup isopropyl alcohol (at least 90 percent alcohol to ensure the final product is 60 percent alcohol).
[Interactive map: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in each state]
Cough or sneeze into your sleeve. Avoid shaking hands. Stay away from crowded areas. And please don’t hunt down masks or respirators. Our hospitals need them. You don’t. Public health authorities don’t recommend their use by the general public.
Get your flu shot. There’s still time. COVID-19 and the flu look a lot alike in the beginning, and health care workers can more quickly identify possible COVID-19 cases if they aren’t simultaneously treating patients with seasonal influenza.
And, please, stay home when you’re sick. We’ve all gone to work or school with a cold. Our culture admires people who play through. Just don’t. We know you’re tough and can gut it out, but your elderly mother or neighbor with lung problems might not be able to.
If you become ill, perhaps with a fever and a cough, call your doctor’s office before going in. You want to give them a chance to prepare, so if you do have COVID-19 you don’t give it to anyone else. The same holds true if you want to go to urgent care or the hospital emergency department. Call first. You may be able to safely quarantine yourself at home, so stock up on nonperishable food and supplies that will allow you to stay home if you are sick.
More test kits are available, but we don’t have enough to test everyone with a scratchy throat. Practitioners are going to decide who gets testing priority, and we ask that you respect those choices.
Finally, don’t panic. One of the reasons COVID-19 is spreading quickly is because most people don’t get that sick. Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, don’t touch other people and cough in your sleeve. Do everything possible not to get sick. But if you do get sick, know that Maine hospitals are ready for you (but call first!).
Steven Michaud is president of the Maine Hospital Association.
Watch: Symptoms of the coronavirus disease