With the first reported cases of coronavirus in Georgia, local officials and schools are taking steps to ease public concerns and curb possible infection.
Hall County Schools today released a revised protocol on foreign travel, Piedmont College canceled foreign study trips to five countries, and White County convened its Pandemic Task Force.
The Habersham County School System is currently developing its plan for dealing with COVID-19, according to Superintendent Matthew Cooper.
Encouraging calm, curbing travel
While local officials caution there is “no need to panic,” they say these actions are necessary to get ahead of any potential COVID-19 outbreak.
A 56-year-old Fulton County man and his 15-year-old son tested positive for the virus. Officials say the man recently returned home from a conference in Milan, Italy. They remain quarantined inside their home along with the man’s wife and a 12-year-old child, Fox Five News reports.
Italy is among six countries currently listed as “high risk” for coronavirus by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The others include China, Iran, South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong.
In response to coronavirus concerns, Piedmont College in Demorest announced Tuesday it canceled foreign study trips to five European nations. The college also established a Coronavirus Task Force and set up a website with online resources relating to COVID-19 (the official name for this coronavirus disease).
Concerns over foreign travel extend into public schools as well. Students and staff in Hall County who travel abroad or live with others who do must now report their travel to the county school system.
Hall County Schools released its updated COVID-19 protocol on Tuesday. In addition to enhanced reporting, the school system is requiring self-imposed quarantines, effective immediately.
Any Hall County student or employee who has traveled to or lives with others who have traveled to countries the CDC designates as level 2 or greater “high risk” countries must “stay at home and self-monitor for 14 days prior returning to work or to school,” the protocol states.
The CDC provides a daily updated list of country risk assessments on its website.
Pandemic Task Force
White County convened its Pandemic Task Force on Monday to review plans for dealing with potential outbreaks. White County Public Safety Directory David Murphy says the plan has been in place since 2008 and there is no need to implement it at this time, according to WRWH News.
“At this point in time, there is no reason whatsoever for the public to be alarmed or be panicked by anything out there about the coronavirus,” Murphy says. “They do need to be absolutely ready to take care of themselves, wash hands do those things they should normally be doing on a daily bases for the seasonal flu.”
White County’s task force is made up of local public health, public safety, school, government, and church leaders. Murphy says the county is now checking its supply inventory to make sure items are up to date.
Habersham County is taking a less structured approach.
“We do not have a task force, however, I have been working with [the] Emergency Service Director to make sure we are asking the appropriate questions so that we can let them know while en route to a sick call,” says Habersham County Emergency Management Agency Director Lynn Smith. She says local officials have been notified and Habersham County EMA has posted information about COVID-19 to its Facebook page.
District 2 Public Health spokesman Dave Palmer says public health officials are always on the lookout for problems in the state.
“We have epidemiologists at the district level and the state level and they are constantly following the disease outbreaks,” Palmer says.
Public health officials continue to encourage those who have not received a flu shot to get one. They also continue to push handwashing and other hygiene measures to help guard against spreading the disease.
Murphy emphasizes that the U.S. remains at a “low risk” of infection from the COVID-19. “These precautions are simply what we should be doing daily to prevent sickness and disease within our homes.”
Dean Dyer of WRWH News in Cleveland contributed to this report
