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Merced, Tulare counties report residents have volunteered for coronavirus monitoring
Nine Merced County residents have volunteered for monitoring as a precaution against conronavirus after recently traveling to China, public health officials confirmed Wednesday.
Officials on Wednesday also confirmed nine people in Tulare County also were self-monitoring as county health officials race to contact area residents who have recently traveled to China.
As of Wednesday, there were no confirmed cases - or even symptons - of COVID-19 in the central San Joaquin Valley. But a new case has appeared in somewhere Northern California, CDC officials confirmed to The Sacramento Bee. Few details have been released.
The Valley reports come two days after Fresno County authorities confirmed dozens of Fresno-area residents had also undergone voluntary monitoring since early February for the virus after recently traveling to mainland China.
In Merced County, Kristynn Sullivan, supervising epidemiologist for the county’s public health office, said her office contacted nine residents as soon as it got information that the residents had traveled from China.
“It’s not a mandatory quarantine, in that there are no official legal orders that the person not leave the home,” Sullivan said. But she added that residents are strongly advised against leaving their home during the 14-day period.
The California Department of Public Health directed county health offices to contact residents who have traveled to at-risk areas or have been in contact with someone who has. And it suggests residents at-risk undergo voluntary monitoring at home.
Tammie Weyker-Adkins, spokeswoman for the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency, said the self-monitoring actions by the nine residents there shouldn’t cause panic and the county is still considered low-risk for the virus. She said health officials from the public health agency are checking in with the residents daily as they undergo the 14-day monitoring. Health workers check for fever and any symptoms related to the novel coronavirus.
Residents call in or can email their temperature to county health officials. They are advised not to leave their home and keep a distance of at least six feet and wear surgical masks.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the only agency able to diagnose the virus through blood tests. If someone needs the test, a local health agency takes the sample and send it to the CDC for analysis.
CDC officials say there is still much to learn about the virus. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath and may appear within two days or in some cases up to 14 days after exposure, according to the CDC.
Visits to Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia are being limited. Shawn Elkin, infection prevention manager at the hospital, said visitors who may be sick are asked to not visit patients for now. The hospital is also working with other health agencies to develop prevention plans, Elkin added in a statement.
The restrictions are similar to those often put in place at hospitals during flu season. Mary Lisa Russell, spokeswoman for Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, said the hospital has maintained usual protocols to protect from the flu and it’s been business-as-usual at the facility.
Local school officials are also keeping an eye on the evolving respiratory virus. A Clovis Unified spokeswoman said the district has sent information and health guidelines to parents and teachers.
The CDC said the virus is currently not spreading among communities in the United States, but some person-to-person cases, as well as cases of repatriated travelers, have been confirmed. Federal authorities on Tuesday warned residents to prepare as a precaution.
They are among the 60 national cases confirmed by the CDC. Ten cases have been confirmed in California. No deaths have been linked to the virus.
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