Local agencies are monitoring the spread of coronavirus as officials seek to educate the public about the outbreak, saying there is currently no cause for alarm in Montgomery County.
A team of city and county leaders, public health officials and EMS personnel will meet in the coming days to review the county’s all-hazards plan for responding to potential health emergencies. Schools have been reaching out to the health department to ensure their plans line up to the county’s protocols. At Wabash College, administrators are scheduled Monday to discuss the campus’s response.
“I feel like the agencies that need to have a plan in place are looking at those as they should be and just trying to get screening mechanisms in place,” Montgomery County Health Department administrator Amber Reed said.
No confirmed cases have been reported in Indiana and no one in the state is currently suspected of being infected, but the Indiana State Department of Health is monitoring 26 people across the state due to their travel history or contact with a person who has traveled to an affected country, state health officials reported.
The immediate risk is low for Americans who have not traveled to an impact area or been in contact with someone who has traveled to affected countries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But worries mounted on the global level as the World Health Organization raised the threat level to “very high” and the outbreak roiled financial markets. The public was urged to practice good hygiene, such as frequent hand washing, and take practical steps to prepare for the possibility that the virus spreads more widely in the United States.
Mayor Todd Barton said he reached out to the county health department Thursday to discuss local plans.
Speaking on WBAA-AM’s “Ask the Mayor” program, Barton said stakeholders would ensure that protocols are up-to-date and “that we’re prepared if we need to start taking some action here on the local level.”
“And it’s also a very, very fine line to make sure you’re prepared, but on the other hand not overreact or alarm people,” Barton added.
On its Facebook page, the county health department linked to a video from a Canadian physician about how the virus spreads. Reed said the agency would provide ongoing information to the public.
“For us, it’s important for people to have the facts,” she said.
