March 20, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The COVID-19 Coronavirus has forced big changes within the past week and at least one local physician is happy to see the community response to the pandemic threat.
“I applaud everybody who has been responsible because what we are doing is protecting the older and more vulnerable population,” said Dr. Hugh Don Cripps in a WJLE Radio program this week.
https://www.wjle.com/corona-virus-interview/
Although DeKalb County still has no confirmed case of the disease among the local population, schools have closed and so have libraries, senior citizen centers, and other public facilities. Community events and meetings have been canceled. Local government officials have locked their doors although they continue to carry on business inside over the phone and online with the public. Local nursing home and assisted living centers are restricting public visitation. The hospital and local clinics are screening visitors and patients. And many DeKalb County businesses are cutting their hours of operation while some local restaurants are restricting customers to drive through or takeout orders.
(For more information about COVID-19 click the link below)
https://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus-2020.html
Dr. Cripps said he is pleased to see the community act responsibly and would like to see more churches respond in the same way.
“I think It is responsible not to gather in groups of over 10 and I believe public gatherings should also include churches. I think it is irresponsible to invite older people to come together in churches when we could do the Lord’s work a lot better if we would get out and do shopping for older people including grandparents. I think that is doing God’s work also. That may not be accepted well by some people but that is what I feel in my heart and feel I need to say,” said Dr. Cripps.
While people of all ages could get or spread the disease, it is the elderly who are most vulnerable.
“Twenty year olds are not going to die with this disease. It’s going to be a grandmother, great grandmother, or your parents. A hug from a grandchild is a wonderful thing for a grandparent but it may be the very thing that kills them so I think it is responsible to close down visitation to nursing homes (NHC Health Care Center) and assisted living places (Webb House Retirement Center) which they have done. It should be pretty well a lock down. We have all seen on TV where people (at similar facilities) are visiting at the telephone and through a window with their grandparents,” said Dr. Cripps.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cripps has some advice on what you can do at your home or business to prevent the spread of infectious diseases including COVID-19.
“The flu virus is droplet contamination and that is mostly the way this (COVID-19) is also passed on to recipients but the difference between this and the flu virus is that it can be on fomites, inanimate objects. It could be on door knobs, table tops, etc. especially the more slick something is like glass or plastic. For more porous items like clothing, the virus absorbs into the threads and fibers. It wicks the moisture out and dries quickly so it’s not very likely you will get it from clothing even though it may be contaminated. Harvard and the Centers for Disease Control did an evaluation and their joint recommendation was that we not consider clothing. Even contamination gowns are probably safe in a matter of hours. One study showed that on fomites if it is copper covered it probably doesn’t last but four hours even if you don’t wipe it down. On cardboard it’s about a day. Metal and plastic anywhere from two to three days. But if you wipe it down with your favorite agent like Chlorox or Lysol which are two good products and if you wipe it down frequently and let it dry, the surface is clear. We should all do that in our homes. Wipe down counters frequently and things we touch like door knobs especially after going to the bathroom,”Dr. Cripps said.