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Highlands Medical Center is coordinating with the Alabama Department of Public Health to stay informed of the latest development with the virus, and will continue to work with public health officials to stay as prepared as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhile no cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have been identified in Alabama at this time, state and local health care organizations are preparing for the spread of the virus.\u00a0 Highlands Medical Center is coordinating with the Alabama Department of Public Health to stay informed of the latest development with the virus, and will continue to work with public health officials to stay as prepared as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During a press conference this week, Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama\u2019s state health officer said, \u201cWe have been working since mid-January primarily with prevention activities, but also at the same time we\u2019ve been in the planning stage for the possibility of the virus circulating at some time in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state has received tests from the CDC and is training staff on how to use them. However, according to Dr. Harris, people should self-monitor illness first, and not rush to be tested.\u00a0 \u201cWe feel very comfortable at this time to say we don\u2019t have the disease circulating in our community,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cMost people are not likely going to need testing.\u201d \u00a0Tests will only be given to those patients who meet the CDC criteria for testing.<\/p>\n
HMC has taken precaution to ensure the safety of patients and staff by developing processes to properly screen and isolate people who meet the CDC criteria for the virus. \u00a0Dr. Lonnie Albin, Chief Medical Officer at HMC, said.\u00a0 \u201cWe have not had any patients at our facility meet the CDC criteria for testing.\u00a0 However, our focus is on being prepared by following the CDC and Alabama Department of Public Health guidelines in case the virus spreads to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Media reports indicate that consumers are rushing to local retailers to purchase masks, causing a shortage of supply.\u00a0\u00a0 It is not recommended by the CDC that the general population wear a mask for protection.\u00a0 Facemasks are to be worn by patients to prevent contamination of the surrounding area when they cough or sneeze.\u00a0 Wearing a mask could give a false sense of security because if not adequately sealed to the face, airborne particles can still enter through the sides. \u00a0Masks should be reserved for infected patients and medical staff.\u00a0 HMC has received requests from the public for masks but is unable provide any medical supplies, including masks, gowns or gloves to the general public as these items must be reserved for patients and the staff treating them.<\/p>\n
For protection and the prevention of spreading any virus, community residents should practice good hygiene, avoid being around people who are sick, and stay at home when sick, except to get medical care.\u00a0 Everyone is encouraged to visit the CDCs website at www.CDC.gov<\/a> or the Alabama Department of Health website at www.AlabamaPublicHealth.gov<\/a> to learn ways to protect yourself and others.\u00a0 \u201cThe goal with any virus is to minimize the spread.\u00a0 Using common sense actions like washing your hands with soap and water, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue you throw in the trash, and avoiding sick people are some of the best ways to protect yourself from getting a virus, including this one,\u201d said Dr. Albin. \u201cIf you develop symptoms of the virus, contact your health care provider.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While no cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have been identified in Alabama at this time, state and local health care organizations are preparing for the spread of the virus.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1188"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1193,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188\/revisions\/1193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}