On Thursday, The World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. Lane County Public Health got a “crash-course” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to identify the deadly virus.
The point is to educate, not incite panic. That’s the message from Jason Davis with Lane County. He says there are up to seven strains of Coronavirus- that we know of. But only one is of major concern.
“So just because you’ve heard you have Corona from a doctor or medical provider doesn’t mean that you have the “novel” Corona that has been getting media coverage,” Davis said.
Davis says some locals who had recently been to China, returned with upper respiratory infections. Following CDC guidelines, he says they were able to rule out the “novel” Corona.
“But it still gave us an opportunity to do a “dry run” so to speak of what we would do if we had an actual case here,” said Davis.
Meanwhile, he warns that Type B Influenza remains the predominant health threat to all Oregonians.
