News has been unfolding rapidly about the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Health Authority said, as of Wednesday, there are three confirmed cases in Oregon. OHA counted 19 others who had developed symptoms and were under investigation, and another 86 people who did not have symptoms but were in contact with people who did.
Related: Coronavirus Update: Oregon Numbers Delayed, Washington Cases Increase
Oregon Health Authority medical director for communicable diseases Dr. Paul Cieslak said the number one thing someone should do if they are feeling sick is to stay home.
"If you are coughing, please take yourself out of circulation so you're not spreading whatever virus is causing your cough," Cieslak said.
Cieslak joined OPB host Jenn Chávez to talk through the latest details, including how Oregon is testing for the virus and its impact on healthcare workers.
Dr. Paul Cieslak with the Oregon Health Authority on March 4, 2020, in Portland, Ore.
Crystal Ligori / OPB
Who gets tested for COVID-19?
The Oregon Health Authority has to follow strict guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention around who they can test for the disease. Cieslak said in an interview Wednesday morning there are three groups of people OHA is testing.
"First [would be] close contacts of cases who developed symptoms," Ceslak said. "Secondly, persons who traveled from one of the countries named by CDC as a place where there's a lot of transmission and, thirdly, persons who are hospitalized with severe pneumonia and no other explanation."
But Cieslak said, ideally, they would be testing even more people.
"We'd like to make it so that any doctor could decide, 'Well, I'd like to test my patient for COVID-19,'" he said. "Right now, we're going to be limited to those groups of patients that CDC wants."
That could soon happen. Late Wednesday, the CDC expanded their guidelines for coronavirus testing to a "a wider group of symptomatic patients". The new guidance comes after an off-camera briefing Tuesday with reporters at the White House, where Vice President Mike Pence said "any American can be tested, no restrictions, subject to doctor's orders."
Stay home, wash your hands, cover your cough
The same ways you try to keep yourself from getting a cold or flu works for the spread of coronavirus. Cieslak's top suggestion is stay home if you're sick. Number two? Wash your hands frequently.
Related: Everything You Want To Know About Coronavirus (And Other Stuff, Too)
"A lot of viral respiratory diseases, we think, are spread by hand to hand contact," he said. "So frequent hand washing is a great way to stop that."
OHA recommends washing with soap and running water for 20 seconds. If you don't have access to soap and water, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer will work against COVID-19 and most other viruses, not all. Lastly, be sure to cover your cough to protect the people around you. A good way to do that is cough into a tissue, discard the tissue, then immediately wash your hands. Another option is to cough into the inside of your elbow.
What about health care workers?
Cieslak said OHA is particularly concerned about health care providers because they are more likely to be exposed to coronavirus then the general population. Additionally, it's still flu season in Oregon, so there are even more people getting sick which requires more health care. "We can't afford to have a lot of health care workers being forced to stay home because they've gotten sick," Cieslak says. "We really want health care workers to be taking the appropriate precautions whenever they're treating a patient who is coughing."
Listen to the full conversation by clicking play on the audio player at the top of this story.