This is a picture of CDC’s laboratory test kit for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). CDC tests are provided to U.S. state and local public health laboratories, Department of Defense (DOD) laboratories and select international laboratories. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
While there are no cases of the new coronavirus in Cortland County as of this afternoon, the County Health Department is bracing for a possible positive result in returning lab tests.
“No positives…yet,” said Catherine Feuerherm, the county public health department’s director. “Test results are starting to come in from commercial labs. We expect to hit a positive soon, as disease is increasingly identified in surrounding counties.”
Most counties surrounding Cortland County have identified COVID-19 virus cases, according to the state Health Department: Broome has 2 cases, Chenango 2, Onondaga 5, Tioga 2, and Tompkins 6. There are no cases reported in Cayuga and Madison counties.
The County Public Health Department is not conducting tests, but tests are available from area doctors, the department announced today. Residents who believe they need to be tested should call their doctor’s office, according to the department. If they are uninsured or without a primary care physician, they can call the Upstate COVID-19 triage hotline at 1-315-464-3979 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
While older adults are most at risk to suffer severe illness or death from the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released findings Wednesday that younger adults are at a greater risk of serious symptoms than previously thought.
“These preliminary data also demonstrate that severe illness leading to hospitalization, including ICU admission and death, can occur in adults of any age with COVID-19,” the CDC paper found. “In contrast, persons aged ≤19 years appear to have milder COVID-19 illness, with almost no hospitalizations or deaths reported to date in the United States in this age group.”
The paper’s analysis of 4,226 U.S. cases between February 12 and March 16 examined separately those hospitalized with COVID-19, those in intensive care units and those who died of the virus. Among hospitalized patients, 20 percent were aged 20–44 years and 18 percent were 45–54 years old. Of the patients in ICU wards, 12 percent were between 20 and 44 years old, while 36 percent were aged 45–64 years. In the 44 deaths studied, nine were of people younger than 64.
“While the info regarding younger people is new, it’s not really surprising,” Feuerherm wrote today in an email interview. “Young people are very social so distancing is a problem.”
The more a group congregates, the more likely its members are to be sick with COVID-19, she noted.
“We have seen that the longer and closer the exposure, the higher the infectious rate,” Feuerherm said, “so it makes sense that this age group will be sick.”
Young people are likely to recover from the disease, Feuerherm noted, while “older adults die in large numbers.”
The CDC paper outlined the trend, noting no children have died from the disease in the U.S. while those over 85 died at the highest rate.
“Case-fatality percentages increased with increasing age, from no deaths reported among persons aged ≤19 years to highest percentages (10%–27%) among adults aged ≥85 years,” the paper noted.
There is currently no treatment for COVID-19 or vaccine to prevent contracting the disease, according to the CDC. The best way to stay healthy is to avoid getting infected by maintaining a distance of six feet away from other people, a tactic known as social distancing. The virus is thought to spread through air droplets after an infected person sneezes or coughs, or through proximal contact with an infected person.
“Everyone should practice social distancing,” Feuerherm stated. “If you’re sick, stay away from grandma!”
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