Local doctors answer questions about coronavirus; urge calm, measured response

IDAHO FALLS — With five confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in Idaho, bare shelves at grocery stores, a seeming toilet paper shortage and hundreds of rumors swirling around the community — its clear that COVID-19 is on the minds of eastern Idahoans.

Despite the fears though, local healthcare providers say there is no need to panic and that Gem State residents are still at very low-risk of catching or dying from the virus.

As of Sunday morning, 176 people in Idaho have been tested and only five have the virus. The only eastern Idaho case is a woman in Teton County who is experiencing mild symptoms, according to Eastern Idaho Public Health District spokeswoman Mimi Taylor.

Nationally, there are 1,629 total cases with 41 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, over 150,000 cases are confirmed and over 5,000 people have died, the World Health Organization reports.

The ever-growing spread of the disease resulted in Gov. Brad Little declaring a precautionary state of emergency Friday. Later that afternoon. Pres. Donald Trump did the same nationwide.

Due to the increasing concerns about the virus, and the tremendous amount of misinformation being spread on social media, EastIdahoNews.com spoke with several doctors this week to get answers to questions about the virus.

What is COVID-19?

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. COVID-19 is a strain of the coronavirus that has never been seen in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that some coronaviruses cause illness in people, while others only infect animals.

“Rarely, animal coronaviruses that infect animals have emerged to infect people and can spread between people. This is suspected to have occurred for the virus that causes COVID-19,” according to the CDC website.

It was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

“It’s kind of like influenza that no one’s really had any prior immunity to,” Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. John Bagwell said. Bagwell works with patients at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

Should eastern Idaho residents be worried about the virus?

Bagwell believes COVID-19 is something that people shouldn’t worry about “excessively.”

Mountain View Hospital Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Martha Buitrago said precautions should be taken, but not just for COVID-19, but for any virus.

“They need not be afraid or panic, rather aware and careful to take proper pandemic precautions,” said Dr. Edwin Wells, a Madison Memorial Hospital and Teton Valley Hospital emergency physician and EMS director.

One thing to remember about pandemic conditions is if everyone who may have symptoms goes to the doctor, it spreads the virus more quickly. It also overwhelms medical services, keeping them from helping people who need urgent, life saving care, Wells said.

Is COVID-19 more dangerous than the common flu?

Buitrago and Bagwell said right now the answer is unclear if COVID-19 or the flu is more dangerous.

“We don’t know the amount of patients that are actually infected,” Buitrago said. “We need a denominator to know whether or not it’s more or less deadly than the influenza.”

That number will be easier to ascertain as more testing is completed. At present, less than 200 people have been tested in Idaho, and the virus is similar enough to a cold or flu that someone might never know they had it.

Bagwell said it’s also unknown if there are a large number of people that have COVID-19 but don’t really have any symptoms.

“Most experts are saying that it’s (COVID-19) probably going to be under the 1% case fatality ratio, which would be higher than what the flu is,” Bagwell said. “The flu mortality is 0.1 %, so you’re talking about something that (might be) a little bit more lethal than regular influenza.”

But the vast majority of people will recover from COVID-19 without any medical assistance. The exception is the elderly and those with depressed respiratory or immune systems who are more at risk, and may need to seek medical attention.

What are the main symptoms of COVID-19?

Taylor said in a news release Friday that the COVID-19 symptoms are generally similar to flu-like symptoms. She said it includes a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher and/or respiratory infection symptoms, including cough and shortness of breath.

What should a person do if they feel sick and believe it’s COVID-19?

If you feel sick, all three doctor’s recommend you stay home, unless you’re having difficulty breathing. If you’re not having breathing trouble, they said being tested for the virus is not necessary.

If you have a fever with a cough or fever with shortness of breath and traveled to a COVID-19 affected area within the prior 14 days or had close contact with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 patient within the prior 14 days, Eastern Idaho Public Health recommends you call your health care provider to discuss testing.

The state is not currently testing everyone who has COVID-19 symptoms and they don’t have immediate plans for widespread testing, state officials told media during a recent news conference.

“I don’t think anything has changed a lot in that regard (of when you’re sick). If you’re feeling sick, you should stay at home and not be around folks,” Bagwell said. “Maybe we should just remind ourselves of that more now with this new virus.”

Wells said in pandemic situations, social distancing is paramount because it’s the difference between a few thousand people dying and hundreds of thousands dying.

“In the emergency department, we’ll never turn anyone away, but we’ll be checking specifically for low oxygen and difficulty breathing,” Wells said. “For the time being, there is no treatment for COVID-19, so it is best to stay home. For the rest of the symptoms like cough, fever and body aches, we will give Tylenol and send people back home to quarantine for two weeks.”

Bagwell suggests ill people who don’t need to be at the hospital should stay home, sleep, hydrate and take whatever you would take if you had the flu.

What’s the process to get tested for COVID-19?

Getting tested for COVID-19 is a process. Local health district officials say health care providers evaluate patients and decide if they should order a COVID-19 test. This usually happens after they’ve ruled out influenza with a flu test.

If a patient is a candidate for a test, the health care provider works with local health district to order a test. They said the test consists of swabbing the patient’s nose and throat to collect a sample.

Once tested for COVID-19 in east Idaho, where does the test go?

The sample is sent to a laboratory. If it comes back as positive, it will be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm that the positive result is accurate, the Idaho Statesman reported.

A state laboratory in Boise is running tests for Idaho, as well as three private companies, including well-known LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics.

How do you get COVID-19?

COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person, according to the CDC.

For this reason, Wells wants the community to be aware of the need to limit in-person social interaction.

“Wise leaders of large organizations are giving sound guidance to limit our social contact. This is good pandemic strategy,” Wells said. “To save the most lives, you’ve got to limit social contact. Your individual risk to die from coronavirus may be around 1%, but if multiplied by 100 million exposures, do the math. That’s a lot of people dying from this within the next few months. If we can lessen the exposure, we lessen that number.”

Can COVID-19 live on a surface?

Buitrago and Bagwell said the virus can live on surfaces. While it’s not clear how long long it can live on surfaces, Buitrago said cleaning with normal household cleaners such as Clorox can help eliminate it.

Why is it mostly affecting older people rather than younger people?

Bagwell said COVID-19 is mostly affecting older people because their immune systems are “less robust.” It’s also causing issues for those who have serious chronic medical conditions, or suppressed immune systems.

One interesting thing Bagwell noticed about COVID-19 is that it isn’t affecting children like the flu does.

“Children are getting infected, but they’re not getting sick,” Bagwell said.

Wells believes kids are getting a more mild COVID-19 syndrome.

“They have been immunized by recent exposures to multiple viruses, including benign forms of coronavirus, so their immune systems are more ready to take on this new virus,” Wells explained.

Can a person only get COVID-19 once in their lifetime?

Bagwell said he believes that there’s immunity that develops and a second infection does not happen.

Wells said if COVID-19 is like most viruses, once you’ve had it, that identical virus is not likely to make you as ill, even if you get it again because you’ll have some immunity to it.

How can people prevent contracting and spreading COVID-19?

The CDC says the best steps to take to protect yourself from COVID-19 are to clean your hands often and avoid close contact with ill people. If COVID-19 is spreading in your community, they recommend putting distance between yourself and other people.

There are also steps people can take to help others not contract the virus. The CDC recommends people stay home if they are sick, cover coughs and sneezes, wear a face mask if you’re sick and clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily.

“The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus,” Taylor said in a news release.