The Trump administration is calling on all Americans to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

President Trump and his Coronavirus Task Force fielded questions from reporters Tuesday for more than an hour.  Many of those questions having to do with containment, and of course, the shell-shocked economy. 

One of the things President Trump and others said is that ending this pandemic is everyone’s responsibility. And officials reminded the nation that just because you may not be in the at-risk population, you could easily infect someone who is.

Trump said the next 15 days are crucial for the US. 

“So it’s 15 days from yesterday,” he said. “We’ll see what happens after that. If we do this right, our country and the world, frankly, but our country can be rolling again pretty quickly. pretty quickly.”

Doing this right, the President, said would include observing the new CDC guidance with tighter restrictions on public gatherings.

“And we’re asking everyone to work at home if possible, postpone unnecessary travel and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people,” Trump said. 

There were also calls for the public to avoid visiting nursing homes, containing the country’s most vulnerable.

At least 35 states have ordered public schools closed with at least 15 activating the National Guard. The World Health Organization (WHO) made its plea clear.

“We have a simple message for all countries. Test, test, test,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expanding its earlier guidance allowing states to approve their own COVID-19 tests to speed up the process.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said increased testing is on the way, but in the meantime urged caution.

“That means do not go to St. Patrick’s Day parties tonight. If you do you are literally putting others at risk,” he said. 

While primary elections are moving forward in Illinois, Arizona, and Florida, Ohio’s governor called them off citing virus concerns.  

The country’s health officials are sounding optimistic overall. 

“But I wouldn’t put us to task every few days, wait a minute it’s going up, is it working or not. That would be really misleading if we do that,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that the Pentagon will provide 5 million respirators and 2,000 specialized ventilators to federal health authorities to help in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Esper told reporters that the ventilators are designed for use by deployed troops and the military will need to train civilians how to use them.  He said some may have “single-use” limitations.

US officials have talked about the shortage of ventilators to help treat patients with the virus.

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The Trump administration is calling on all Americans to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

President Trump and his Coronavirus Task Force fielded questions from reporters Tuesday for more than an hour.  Many of those questions having to do with containment, and of course, the shell-shocked economy. 

One of the things President Trump and others said is that ending this pandemic is everyone’s responsibility. And officials reminded the nation that just because you may not be in the at-risk population, you could easily infect someone who is.

Trump said the next 15 days are crucial for the US. 

“So it’s 15 days from yesterday,” he said. “We’ll see what happens after that. If we do this right, our country and the world, frankly, but our country can be rolling again pretty quickly. pretty quickly.”

Doing this right, the President, said would include observing the new CDC guidance with tighter restrictions on public gatherings.

“And we’re asking everyone to work at home if possible, postpone unnecessary travel and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people,” Trump said. 

There were also calls for the public to avoid visiting nursing homes, containing the country’s most vulnerable.

At least 35 states have ordered public schools closed with at least 15 activating the National Guard. The World Health Organization (WHO) made its plea clear.

“We have a simple message for all countries. Test, test, test,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expanding its earlier guidance allowing states to approve their own COVID-19 tests to speed up the process.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said increased testing is on the way, but in the meantime urged caution.

“That means do not go to St. Patrick’s Day parties tonight. If you do you are literally putting others at risk,” he said. 

While primary elections are moving forward in Illinois, Arizona, and Florida, Ohio’s governor called them off citing virus concerns.  

The country’s health officials are sounding optimistic overall. 

“But I wouldn’t put us to task every few days, wait a minute it’s going up, is it working or not. That would be really misleading if we do that,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that the Pentagon will provide 5 million respirators and 2,000 specialized ventilators to federal health authorities to help in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Esper told reporters that the ventilators are designed for use by deployed troops and the military will need to train civilians how to use them.  He said some may have “single-use” limitations.

US officials have talked about the shortage of ventilators to help treat patients with the virus.

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The volume of information regarding COVID-19 released in the past week is overwhelming.

The initial, simple message has increased in complexity with new tallies daily on how many are infected and what actions governments, educational institutions, hospitals, and businesses are taking to help control the spread of the infection.

With no medications or vaccines currently available, the focus remains on personal hygiene, COVID-19 testing and public health strategies.

But really…what is a “pandemic” and what can we expect over the upcoming weeks as the world responds to this infection?

A pandemic is defined when an infection has “efficient and sustained human to human transmission worldwide.” Some recent prior pandemics have included HIV/AIDS 2005, Hong Kong Flu pandemic 1968, and the Asian flu pandemic of 1956.

There are phases to a pandemic with different public health strategies applied in each phase:

Currently, in the United States, we are experiencing the Acceleration phase, so you can expect a rapid doubling of cases over the next days to weeks. How fast this occurs depends on how successful we are in applying public health strategies.

Over the next week, we will continue to see case identifications with the isolation of those sick patients, enhanced testing for COVID-19 to help us to identify cases, plus the addition of more and more social distancing, which includes things like canceling large public events, closing schools, etc.

The peak of the pandemic will see cancellation and postponement of elective medical care, including procedures like knee replacements, hysterectomies and routine physicals.

GET YOUR FREE FACTSHEET Coronavirus: What You Need to Know

Much has been highlighted in the news regarding COVID-19 testing and social distancing, but one important thing to note is that COVID-19 testing is recommended for only a small subset of people who:

AND

As more tests become available, testing volume will increase. Still, it is important to understand that these tests are primarily to help our public health and medical systems to understand the timing and aggressiveness of social distancing, and to manage medical resources.

For the short term, there are no proven antivirals or vaccines to treat this infection. Medical care will be focused on supportive treatment for those who develop breathing complications from the virus.

As a reminder, if you are concerned that you may have symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath and are wondering if you should seek testing, please consult with your health provider. Medi-Share members should take advantage of the free MDLive telehealth resource, which allows you to speak with a board-certified physician 24/7 who can help guide you on the best next steps to safeguard your health.

Medi-Share, like our nation, will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation. We encourage our members and everyone to stay calm and to follow local public health recommendations regarding travel, avoiding work/school if sick, and implementing social distancing when directed in your area.

We are grateful to be a part of a faith community and are lifting our members, our staff and our nation in prayer. Take comfort from the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6–7: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

About Dr. Alesia Greene

Dr. Alesia Greene is a board-certified family physician with leadership experience in clinical operations, clinical quality process improvements, patient safety program management, and patient-centered medical home strategies. She also had a successful military career in the Air Force serving as a staff family physician, medical director, primary course instructor, chief of the medical staff, and ultimately Commander, Chief of Aerospace Medicine. Dr. Greene joined the Medi-Share team in 2018.

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