NC hospitals prepare for coronavirus
On Wednesday, Womack Army Medical Center laid out its measures to handle any potential outbreak of flu, other respiratory illnesses and coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Children under 12 and people who have symptoms of a cold or the flu haven't been allowed in patient care areas at WakeMed facilities since early January to combat the flu. Bisset said the system doesn't plan further restrictions at this point, but officials are asking visitors to think about whether they actually need to see a patient in person or whether they could call or message instead.
"There’s times when visitors need to be here at the hospital, but there’s other times when it may not be a necessary visit. So, we’re asking people to be very thoughtful of that," she said.
All community education classes, support groups and other public events at WakeMed hospitals have been suspended until further notice, and the WakeMed Foundation’s annual Appreciation Gala, one of the largest nonprofit events in Wake County, has been postponed. A new date for the event hasn't been set.
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Doctors and nurses said Wednesday morning that they're ready for COVID-19 if any soldier or family members test positive for the virus.
The hospital a zero-pressure isolation room in the emergency department that would be used to safely treat patients. Womack officials said they are able to treat as many as 100 isolation patients, and that number could be expanded, if necessary.
The major concern right now is for soldiers returning from deployments to places like Kuwait and Afghanistan, hospital staff said. Those soldiers have the potential to stop off in high-risk countries before returning to the United States.
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"For each flight that's coming back, we are assessing if it did stop somewhere such as Germany or Kuwait, because flights coming back often stop there on their way back to the United states," Col. Martin Doperak, Fort Bragg command surgeon, said.
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