Health & Fitness

'Certainly Possible' N.H. Sees Coronavirus Spread: State Doctor

New Hampshire has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus, and the three people tested for the virus have been cleared.

Mike Carraggi's profile picture
Mike Carraggi, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
|

State health officials are "taking steps to prepare" for the possible spread of the coronavirus, they said just one day after federal health officials warned Americans to be ready for a coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and Division of Public Health Services said Wednesday they continue to monitor the situation.

"Given what we have seen in other countries, it is certainly possible that we could see community spread at some point in the U.S. and New Hampshire," Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist, said in a release.

Find out what's happening in Merrimackfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in New Hampshire. There have been three people tested for the virus, but none had it. There are no pending cases.

The state issued an update Wednesday, one day after the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should prepare for the spread of coronavirus.

Find out what's happening in Merrimackfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Related: Easy Ways To Avoid Getting Sick This Season

"It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness," a CDC official said Tuesday.

In Massachusetts, hundreds have been self-quarantined in their homes for possible exposure to coronavirus. A college student in his 20s who recently returned from Wuhan, China, is the only confirmed case there. Health officials this week said he is recovering.

"The risk to residents in Massachusetts remains low," the Massachusetts Department of Health said Tuesday. "While person-to-person spread among close contacts has been detected with this virus, at this time this virus is NOT currently spreading in the community in the United States."

On Monday, a Cambridge-based company shipped vials of a coronavirus vaccine, manufactured at a plant in Norwood, to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease for further research.

There have been more than 80,000 cases of coronavirus across the globe, with nearly 3,000 deaths. There have been 14 confirmed cases in the U.S. and no fatalities.

Symptoms include a fever and coughing.

Here's what state health officials said they are doing in preparation:

  • Activating our Incident Management Team to coordinate our public health response with emergency services, homeland security officials, and other public health partners
  • Identifying and investigating people with suspect COVID-19 and their close contacts
  • Implementing illness monitoring and quarantine for travelers returning from mainland China
  • Preparing and shipping specimens to CDC for testing while simultaneously working with CDC to implement the testing locally here in the NH Public Health Laboratories
  • Providing technical guidance and information to healthcare and public health partners through health alerts, written guidance and webinars
  • Informing the public on prevention measures through media interviews and social media posts
  • Planning for future potential for community transmission in the United States including addressing needs for medical surge, community mitigation, and providing housing, transportation, and wrap-around services (e.g. food) for people under isolation or quarantine due to illness or exposure
  • Maintaining situational awareness for 2019 Novel Coronavirus across the globe and providing updates to stakeholders
  • Maintaining daily communications with federal partners including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and other national organizations
  • Maintaining regular communications with other state agencies, local health departments, and other partners
  • Informing the public on respiratory disease prevention measures through media interviews and social media posts

    • Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

    More from Merrimack