Stockpile up to two weeks of food and toiletries, talk to your boss about working from home if need be, keep an eye on the news and keep your hands washed.
While Dora Anne Mills on Wednesday likened most of her advice to preparing to batten down for a long blizzard, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is likely to cause a pandemic, she said Mainers need to prepare.
“The most predictable things about pandemics is that they’re unpredictable,” said Mills, the former longtime top state health official, now chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth. “This could fizzle, we could have outbreaks. It could hit really quick and hard like a bad flu season.”
“I’m definitely taking it seriously,” she added.
One way the state is preparing: purchasing equipment able to test for COVID-19 and other viruses.
Deputy Commissioner of Finance Benjamin Mann told the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that Maine’s so far lone suspected COVID-19 case earlier this month required shipping a sample to Atlanta because testing wasn’t available here.
The test came back negative 2½ days later.
The committee approved immediately moving $53,824 within a federal projects grant account to pay for a Qiagen EZ1 Advanced XL extraction platform, which Mann said is the only equipment, according to the Food and Drug Administration, able to do nucleic acid extraction to test for the coronavirus.
With the purchase process sped up, Mann said it could be in the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Lab within five business days.
It replaces a 13-year-old piece of equipment that can’t test for that virus.
Maine CDC spokesman Robert Long said Wednesday that the U.S. CDC is overseeing all COVID-19 testing, but “it is possible that states, including Maine, would be authorized to test for the virus if the U.S. CDC moves ahead with state-level testing.”
The U.S. CDC said earlier this week COVID-19 had been detected in 32 countries and territories. Fourteen cases have been diagnosed in the U.S., one in Arizona, eight in California, two in Illinois, one in Massachusetts and one in Washington.
Another 39 people recently returned from China or had been quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan, for 53 cases total within the U.S.
Nearly 77,000 cases have been reported in China, 1,875 cases outside mainland China and 2,462 deaths reported worldwide, according to the CDC.
Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath and can start between two and 14 days after exposure. The CDC said person-to-person spread has been mainly by respiratory transmission and is recommending people showing symptoms wear a face mask.
Long said the Maine CDC has been preparing for the possibility of cases here since the outbreak started in December. It held a multiagency pandemic response drill in November and has since been working with health care systems, first responders, local health departments and others on preparedness.
“The risk to the public remains low,” he said.
A Central Maine Medical Center spokeswoman said all of Central Maine Healthcare is following guidance from the Maine and federal CDC, “in a constant state of readiness for any emerging disease through our strict infection prevention practices, comprehensive staff education and strong collaboration with local and regional emergency preparedness resources.”
Mills said MaineHealth, which includes Maine Medical Center in Portland, had taken steps such as screening electronic medical records.
Those checking in for a visit are asked about symptoms and recent travel, and “if they do screen positive, instructions pop up right away to let people know that person needs to be put into a private room right away, not sitting in the waiting room, for instance, so they can expose other people,” Mills said. “It’s been a full team effort getting ready just in case.”
She’s hoping people don’t panic but do stay on top of the news and that businesses evaluate their pandemic policies.
Mills is suggesting people stockpile food and toiletries in case they become sick or they find themselves caring for a sick family member.
She’s personally taking a wait-and-see approach to spring and summer travel plans because their are so many unknowns with the virus.
“There was a time during H1N1 we said don’t shake hands — we’re not at that point yet,” Mills said.
Auburn Schools Superintendent Katy Grondin said, absent any specific directions from the state or Maine School Management Association, her schools “continue to implement our universal precaution measures.” That includes handwashing, encouraging the flu shot and monitoring reasons for absences.
Lewiston Superintendent Todd Finn echoed those comments, saying the same precautions as avoiding the flu apply: Cleaning high-touch surfaces, covering coughs, avoiding sharing personal items, monitoring symptoms.
“At this point, we watch developments closely and prevent the spread of any germs or viruses daily,” he said. “We are business as usual in (Lewiston Public Schools), but we maintain hypervigilance in terms of healthy behaviors in our school communities.”
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.