Bracing for the Coronavirus

Good morning!

A week has passed since my last VC Notes and I can honestly say that the “quiet before the storm” seems like a distant memory.  Although Mississippi has only had one publicly reported case of COVID-19 so far, UMMC has gone full-bore into preparation mode and it seems like everybody else has, too.   

Since last Friday:

Coronavirus has been confirmed in nearly all the United States, and in some locations the virus is rapidly spreading. Cities, states and non-government entities like the NCAA and professional sports leagues are taking dramatic and even unprecedented steps to curtail the spread.

Yes, Mississippi has had its first case, an adult in Forrest County who became ill following recent travel to Florida. Fortunately, the number of people exposed was minimal. I'm sure we will have more cases soon.

The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning has extended Spring Break by a week for the eight primarily undergraduate institutions.  Even when educational activities resume, the students will stay home and classes will largely move to a virtual platform. We have not extended break and our classes will resume Monday, March 16.  Each school will be in touch with their respective students about the details. 

The World Health Organization escalated their definition of the coronavirus threat from epidemic to pandemic. Among other things, what that means is that the public health response strategy is transitioning from primarily containment of the virus to slowing down its spread.  In the long run, the same number of people may become infected but new cases will emerge over a longer period of time.  This protects the national health system from being overwhelmed by a tremendous spike in medical need.

Slowing down spread also pushes us further into the warmer months, when similar viruses have tended to lose steam.  We have no idea if this coronavirus will behave in a seasonal manner but that’s certainly what we’re hoping for.

At UMMC, as you know by now, we have implemented stringent measures regarding travel and the cancellation of nonessential events that entail large numbers of participants.  Nobody regrets this more than I do.  Travel to scholarly and advisory panel meetings is part of our identity as members of an academic medical center.  Equally important are our opportunities to engage with the public and each other through events and celebrations.  But extraordinary times require extraordinary action.

I want to touch on a few points that bear repeating.

It’s critically important for you to stay home if you’re not feeling well.  A single individual who comes to work and turns out to have the virus can do untold damage to our patients and staff.  Employees and students who have symptoms – fever, persistent cough, shortness of breath – may contact the UMMC Center for Telehealth though a new hotline announced yesterday (601-496-6284) and be screened for the virus . Our continuing concern is our ability to protect our vulnerable patients and our staff so that we can operate at close to full strength. So, resist the altruistic instinct to “show up” for work when you’re not feeling well and just take care of yourself.

Wash your hands often; don't touch your face; clean environmental surfaces at work.  These simple steps are the most important things we can do as individuals to protect ourselves and limit spread. 

Emergency departments are not the place for people with COVID-19 symptoms.  Please share the message with others that patients with mild flu-like symptoms should not seek care at hospital emergency departments, including our adult and pediatric EDs, even if it later turns out that they have COVID-19.  ED’s are for people with immediate life-threatening illness or injuries.  We have to reserve these valuable community assets for patients whose lives truly depend on them.  Of course, for many in our society, the ED is their only source of care, and we accept that responsibility.  But for the vast majority of us, our first call should be to our primary care provider when symptoms appear.

Help us conserve our personal protective equipment.  Our supplies of PPE are adequate but just barely so.  The current problem is that our ability to resupply is uncertain.  Even though we have advised employees not to take PPE home or provide it to our patients and families to take home, a few employees have not complied with that request.  Unfortunately, that has necessitated random bag checks for employees leaving their workplace for the day.  Theft of our protective equipment leaves the rest of our team vulnerable as we care for our patients.

Even if you contract COVID-19, you are in all likelihood going to be OK.  The vast majority of people who become ill will recover completely.  Many may not even know they are ill (which makes it all the more difficult to prevent spread).  In our 24-7 news cycle, it’s easy to become overly alarmed.  There is need for continued preparation, but not panic.  Preparation always trumps panic.

Dr. Jonathan Wilson, our chief administrative officer and the person I’ve tasked to lead our preparations, with the support of a large team of experts, has now established a crisis command center in the Vice Chancellor’s suite.  Later today his team will issue additional restrictions on patient visitors and vendors on our campus.  These will be communicated via email but members of the campus community can always access the latest updates on our coronavirus activities via the UMMC Intranet.

I do sense that our state is pulling together to confront this threat, and that’s encouraging.  I especially appreciate our partnerships with the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.  Our state leadership is rallying together and our citizens now seem to understand the gravity of this matter.  It’s still early, and it’s not clear what the future holds, but I am confident we will get through this together, on our path toward A Healthier Mississippi.