CLEVELAND — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said the city is prepared and ready for coronavirus at a news conference held minutes after it was announced that there are three cases of the disease in Cuyahoga County.
Jackson was joined by representatives from University Hospitals, St. Vincent’s, MetroHealth, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland EMS and Cuyahoga County.
According to Gov. Mike DeWine, two of the cases are from a married couple that went on a cruise on the Nile River. The other case is from a person that went to the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C.
The three patients are between 54 and 56-years-old, according to officials. None of the positive cases have been hospitalized at this time.
RELATED: Ohio's 3 coronavirus cases are in Cuyahoga County, Gov. DeWine confirms
Terry Allen, the commissioner of the county board of health, said that all three people live outside of Cleveland.
Six people in the state who have been in close contact with the three positive cases are being quarantined at home for a minimum of 14 days.
Officials said they have tracked 260 people in Ohio that have traveled to areas of concern.
The governor declared a State of Emergency after announcing the cases.
City and county leaders are not canceling any major events right now.
They said they will be making "day to day" decisions about canceling events.
The State of Ohio has capacity to test 300 to 400 people a day. Third party and commercial labs are ramping up their testing capacity.
“We don’t think people should be flooding into hospitals to be tested,” Allen said. "You can expect to see more positive tests coming in the future. It is a marathon not a sprint."
An extensive investigation has been initiated to find and observe those who have been in direct contact with the three confirmed cases, according to DeWine.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
COVID-19/2019 Novel Coronavirus Overview from the CDC:
“2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV/COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. At this time, it’s unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).”
“When person-to-person spread has occurred with MERS and SARS, it is thought to have happened mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread. Spread of MERS and SARS between people has generally occurred between close contacts.”
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Symptoms
The symptoms of coronavirus are fever and lower respiratory tract issues, such as cough and shortness of breath, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.
Travel
Anyone traveling internationally should review plans in advance of their trip, and check the CDC’s COVID-19 Travel Information Page for daily updates and travel alerts.
Click here for the CDC COVID-19 Travel Information Page
Practice Good Hygiene
The CCBH recommends the following good hygiene practices to prevent coronavirus, as well as the flu, colds and other illnesses:
Sneeze or cough into the bend of your elbow to keep germs from spreading
Regularly wash your hands with soap and water/use alcohol-based hand sanitizer in between
Don’t share cups, spoons, forks, etc. with anyone
Don’t make food for anyone if you are sick
Don’t go to work or school if you are sick
Visit a doctor, urgent care or emergency department if you are sick – don’t take chances
Please contact your medical provider with any questions.
Guidance for those with compromised immune systems
Click here for specific guidance from the CCBH for anyone at higher risk for becoming ill.
Additional Resources
Cuyahoga County: See the CCBH page on coronavirus here.
Ohio Department of Health:
Click here for the Ohio Department of Health’s Coronavirus information page.
It is updated daily at 2 p.m. with the current number of confirmed cases, persons under investigation and persons under investigation who tested negative for the disease.
As of Thursday afternoon, there are zero confirmed cases in Ohio, three persons under investigation in Ohio, seven persons who have tested negative for COVID-19, and a total of 255 people who were or are under health supervision since the novel coronavirus was first reported.
More resources from ODH:
Fact sheet
Prevention infographic
Resources and information
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The CCBH has created this list of coronavirus-related resources from the CDC:
Homepage for COVID-19 materials and information
Fact sheet – Chinese
Fact sheet – English
Fact sheet – Spanish
Guidance for businesses
Guidance for colleges and universities
Guidance for communities and mass gatherings
Guidance for healthcare facilities
Guidance for healthcare professionals
Guidance for people with elevated risk for illness
Guidance for pregnant women
Guidance for risk assessment
Guidance for schools
Guidance for travelers
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – Chinese
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – English
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – Spanish
If you are sick with COVID-19 – Chinese
If you are sick with COVID-19 – English
If you are sick with COVID-19 – Spanish
Preventing spread of COVID-19 at election/polling/voting locations
Prevention and treatment
Symptoms – overview
World Health Organization
Coronavirus information
Mythbusters – the truth about food, packages, pets and other things related to COVID-19
Video – What is COVID-19?
Video – What is my risk of getting COVID-19?
Video – How can I protect myself from COVID-19?
