DANVILLE, Pa. — The Centers for Disease Control announced on Tuesday Americans should prepare for a “significant disruption” to daily life because of the deadly coronavirus.
The CDC said it is not a matter of if but when the coronavirus starts to spread from community to community in the U.S.
Health professionals at Geisinger Medical Center have plans in place, should the virus turn up in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.
“What our goal is, if it does come to central Pennsylvania, we'll help you get over it, and we won't have society collapse around us getting you there,” Geisinger epidemiologist Dr. Mark Shelly said.
According to the CDC, there have been 19 confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far in the U.S.
People in Danville have varying opinions when it comes to readying themselves for the potential spread.
“Tons of hand washing. I pretty much bathe in hand sanitizer,” Susan Stump said.
“I'm probably not going to change too much. I'm going to continue washing my hands on a regular basis like I normally would, and just treat it like any other flu-like symptom that, you know, would be spreading,” Bradley Kizer said.
Health professionals at Geisinger have been preparing, should an outbreak arise, since the virus was first detected in December.
In response to the coronavirus, doctors at Geisinger have been asking patients if they have traveled outside the country recently. Health officials are also double-checking medical supplies to make sure they are prepared.
“We want to make sure that we have enough stuff and that it stays there. That somebody isn't going to use it when they don't need to. If you only have so much, you only want to use it when you need to and in the right way,” Dr. Shelly said.
Geisinger has already hosted several coronavirus seminars to make sure staff have the latest information on the disease.
The next seminar is scheduled for Friday.