Johnson County is no longer coronavirus free, according to Governor Laura Kelly, as a woman under fifty has a confirmed case. Kelly said the woman is being kept in isolation in her home.
“Public health officials are also working to identify and contact those who may have been in close contact with this individual and exposed to the virus,” Kelly said.
As of right now, the CDC said there are 31 states with confirmed cases of the virus and 19 coronavirus related deaths in the US.
The Blue Valley School District said in an email to BVNWnews that they will follow the guidelines of local health departments. Coupled with that, in an email sent out to staff the Blue Valley School District said its custodial staff will use hospital-grade disinfectants that sanitize surfaces killing viruses and bacteria. If the cancellation of school became necessary to protect the health of students, the district also said it is looking into using the one-to-learner devices, issued to every student, as a way to conduct virtual schooling.
In addition, Principal Amy Pressly said her newsletter, set to come out Friday afternoon, will advise the BVNW community to: avoid close contact with those who are sick, cover coughs and sneezes and wash hands frequently for at least 20 seconds in order to avoid contracting the coronavirus.
According to the Johnson County Health Department, to avoid contracting the coronavirus one should do the things Pressly mentioned. The County Health Department also said symptoms of the coronavirus included a mild to severe respiratory illness, fever, cough and shortness of breath. If someone is exhibiting these symptoms, the Johnson County Health Department recommends staying home, covering coughs or sneezes and to disinfect objects and services.
If the coronavirus were to make landfall in Johnson County, school nurse Becky Imlay said students should treat it like the flu and take the following precautions.
“If we had some kind of pandemic, they would treat it like they do influenza,” Imlay said. “[This means] good hand washing, cover your cough [and] avoid respiratory droplets. If there was a vaccine, get the vaccination. There’s not right now. Stay home if you’re sick. Stay home. That’s really all there is to do for something like that right now until they figure out a vaccine for it.”
Imlay said the district has not said anything about which procedures should be followed in the event of the spread of the coronavirus.
Additional information will be added as we gather it.
Filed on March 7 at 9:35 p.m.
