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Geisinger CEO reminds public to wear masks

Dr. Jaewon Ryu says coronavirus is not going away anytime soon and now is not the time to be loosening up on efforts.

DANVILLE, Pa. — As COVID-19 cases skyrocket across the country, Geisinger's president and CEO Dr. Jaewon Ryu is concerned.

He says social distancing efforts and wearing masks have helped us here in Pennsylvania, but coronavirus is not going anywhere.

"It's still way too early to think we're out of the woods. We still need to emphasize the masking, the distancing, the hand hygiene, all of the same precautions that have gotten us the progress we've seen thus far," Dr. Jaewon Ryu said.

Since March, Geisinger has tested more than 70,000 people for COVID-19. Dr. Ryu says 6% of those tests have come back positive.

"In the areas that we serve, over the last few weeks, we have seen an uptick. It's gone from about 16 per day of positive cases we've seen a few weeks ago to now we're about 25 per day," Dr. Ryu said.

Geisinger is advising more than 40 school districts and universities on how to prepare for back to school.

Dr. Ryu recommends practicing wearing masks with your children.

"Since the beginning, we've known and seen that children have less of the risk of severe infections but at the same time can still transmit the virus and so the same precautions apply to them," Dr. Ryu said.

Despite a nationwide backlog of COVID-19 testing, Geisinger's average turnaround time is one day.

The health system is able to test on-site.  

"We continue to build and invest in that capability, and that has served us well in terms of preserving PPE or personal protective equipment and getting results back into the clinical environment so we can do the right decision making with as much information as possible," Dr. Ryu said.

Dr. Ryu stressed the need for social distancing and wearing masks because he said coronavirus is not going away anytime soon and now is not the time to be loosening up on efforts.

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