SJC Person Under Investigation for Novel Coronavirus

San Juan Coun­ty has its first per­son under inves­ti­ga­tion relat­ed to the 2019 nov­el coro­n­avirus (COVID-19) glob­al outbreak.

A per­son under inves­ti­ga­tion is a per­son with symp­toms con­sis­tent with coro­n­avirus infec­tion and who has either recent­ly trav­eled to an affect­ed area, or has had close con­tact with a con­firmed nov­el coro­n­avirus case.

Test­ing is cur­rent­ly being con­duct­ed by the Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol to deter­mine if the ill­ness is nov­el coro­n­avirus, and local, state and CDC health offi­cials are oper­at­ing in an abun­dance of caution.

San Juan Coun­ty Health & Com­mu­ni­ty Ser­vices is work­ing to assess the poten­tial risk to the pub­lic and respond if the per­son under inves­ti­ga­tion becomes a con­firmed case. It is impor­tant to know that the imme­di­ate risk to the gen­er­al pub­lic remains low.

Like oth­er coun­ties in Wash­ing­ton State, local pub­lic health staff have been mon­i­tor­ing oth­er indi­vid­u­als who have returned from Chi­na recent­ly but had no symp­toms of ill­ness. Those indi­vid­u­als remain healthy with no symptoms. 

A web­page has been set up on the San Juan Coun­ty web­site for the pub­lic to access up-to-date infor­ma­tion on the epi­dem­ic, as well as tools and resources for providers.

Addi­tion­al­ly, the Depart­ment of Health has set up a 24-hour hot­line for the pub­lic to call for fur­ther infor­ma­tion relat­ed to this out­break: 1–800-525‑0127.

The best ways to pro­tect against this and oth­er virus­es are to wash your hands often, cov­er your cough, and stay home when ill. Addi­tion­al­ly, pub­lic health offi­cials urge peo­ple to get a sea­son­al flu vac­cine if they haven’t already, as flu cas­es are also increas­ing and symp­toms can look sim­i­lar to nov­el coronavirus.

If you are expe­ri­enc­ing fever and a cough, AND you have either trav­eled from Hubei Province, Chi­na with­in the last 14 days, or have had close con­tact with a con­firmed case, con­tact your health care provider imme­di­ate­ly. Indi­vid­u­als who sus­pect they may have been exposed and have devel­oped symp­toms should CALL their health care provider before going to seek med­ical atten­tion, so the health care provider can take appro­pri­ate pre­cau­tions to pre­vent fur­ther spread of the virus.

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