Here & Now

How to Prepare for COVID-19 in Wisconsin

Frederica Freyberg:

Disruption to everyday life may be severe. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week in declaring that the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, has potential to spread widely in the U.S. In tonight’s closer look, federal health officials warn that schools could be closed, mass public gatherings suspended and businesses forced to have employees work remotely. What is Wisconsin doing to prepare? We turn to the Deputy Administrator of the State Department of Health Services Chuck Warzecha. Thanks for being here.

Chuck Warzecha:

Thanks for having me and thanks for your continued coverage of this important topic.

Frederica Freyberg:

The CDC further says that now is the time for businesses, hospitals, communities, schools and everyday people, they say, to begin preparing. So what does all of that look like in Wisconsin?

Chuck Warzecha:

So I think the key moment that we’re looking at is that the potential for this disease to become transmitted widely in our communities, we’ve shifted to becoming prepared for that from just watching it and trying to prevent it from coming into our communities. We’re reaching a point where the potential and the likelihood is that it could. So we’re asking people think through what they would do, how they might socially isolate, how we might encourage people to think about what kinds of mass gatherings are happening where transmission could be a problem and then again making sure we’re making good decisions based on risk. We know that some folks have already signaled that they’re making those decisions even without that risk in the community and we want to make sure that we get ahead of that as well.

Frederica Freyberg:

And so if people were making those decisions on their own not to attend, you know, big concerts or something like that, should the public actually expect the public health infrastructure to tell us when the point has come?

Chuck Warzecha:

Yes. In fact, when people make those decisions, it’s usually because they don’t know there is help. We want to make sure that folks when they’re starting to wonder what they should do, make that contact particularly with their local public health agency. In Wisconsin we’ve got really strong public health support at the local level.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, with Wisconsin having just a single positive case, it really seems hard to understand how a wild spread of COVID-19 could happen here. How could it?

Chuck Warzecha:

It’s like the H1N1 virus if you remember from about ten or so years ago. When that first arrived on the scene, its starts in some areas but like influenza, this has the potential to spread fairly rapidly. We watched that happen in China from the early stages of this outbreak to broader community spread. That can happen quickly with any respiratory virus that circulates in the community.

Frederica Freyberg:

Are there new guidances for people getting it from other people in terms of testing? Do you still have to have come from a place like China where it is widespread to be tested or is that being expanded as well?

Chuck Warzecha:

That is actually being expanded. In fact as recently as yesterday, we’re getting updated guidance from the CDC on that. The CDC, World Health Organization and others are monitoring what’s happening around the globe and that’s changing what we’re giving out in advice for travelers as well as how we’re considering people’s risk levels when people come back into the country, and whether or not they’ve had symptoms. Whether they’ve had contact with someone who’s travelled from some of the higher-risk regions. We expect that to continue to change as this develops and evolves at the global level.

Frederica Freyberg:

Are cases under investigation in Wisconsin at this moment expanding?

Chuck Warzecha:

No. Actually, we currently have had 17 cases under — persons under investigation. That’s been the case for some time. We currently have no pending cases. So all but one of those was negative and then that one case you mentioned earlier is our only positive case that we’ve had.

Frederica Freyberg:

I understand that the CDC says it has now kind of fixed the test kits that can be sent out to states. Has Wisconsin received its test kits? And when do you expect that to happen?

Chuck Warzecha:

So I know our State Laboratory of Hygiene has been working with the CDC on getting that test up and running. I can’t forecast when that will happen. I expect it will be relatively soon, within a week or two at the very longest. We are very fortunate in Wisconsin to have a very high-quality State Laboratory of Hygiene.

Frederica Freyberg:

Given the issues in China with this, are there supply chain problems in terms of getting even pharmaceuticals or equipment or the protective gear that we need here?

Chuck Warzecha:

So from a personal protective equipment standpoint, yes. FDA just sent a message out I think even this morning announcing they don’t have an ongoing shortage of pharmaceuticals at this point, so I’m not sure I’ve heard an update on that. But from the standpoint of personal protective equipment, face masks, gowns, things like that, yeah, we definitely are seeing challenges in the supply chain and that’s an area that we’re working on guidance on as well to make sure that we can give people alternative recommendations, we can give guidance on conservation until the supply chain can be restabilized and also maybe make a pitch that everyone get their flu shot, because that is circulating in the community at a high level and that puts stress on the same health care system that we need to be prepared for this virus.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Chuck Warzecha, thanks very much for joining us with your information.

Chuck Warzecha:

Thanks for having me.