SALT LAKE CITY — In the last week, Utahns went from fighting about their favorite sports teams, planning for proms and working toward graduations to shutting down schools, closing businesses and standing in lines for toilet paper.
The realities of fighting the new coronavirus are harsh. The requirement to stay home can be both isolating and terrifying. It isn’t just that people are afraid of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, it’s that they’re sad about what fighting the virus is costing them and their children.
No proms. No playdates. No graduations. No sports.
In an effort to answer questions people may have, KUED teamed up for the first time with KSL, KUTV, ABC4 and Fox 13 in an hourlong special, “Covid19 in Utah: Your questions answered.”
The first 30 minutes was focused on facts about the new coronavirus, testing, treatment and why staying away from each will help medical professionals get a handle on the spread of the virus. The second half of the program was aimed at the emotional and economic impacts of the measures governments have taken to slow the spread.
One question raised was how the public is supposed to understand the scope of the virus when not everyone is able to get tested.
“I had two patients just last night,” said Dr. David Mabey, of Utah Emergency Physicians and Intermountain Healthcare. “One patient I was able to test; they met the requirements. The other patient, I was fairly sure that they actually had COVID-19, but we did not have the resources to test them.”
That reality is health care and government officials have hammered away on the idea of social distancing because, in many cases, carriers experience mild or no symptoms.
“You can spread it without even knowing it,” he said. “We also encourage people to have an appropriate level of concern. We want people to be cautious. ... We also don’t want people to be overly anxious, or feel panicky because we have an excellent system here.”
There were questions about the duration of illness, which experts say varies, and several reiterated that if a person has any symptoms like fever, cough or shortness of breath, they should act as if they have COVID-19 and self isolate and call a health care provider through one of the many hotline or telehealth services.
“COVID-19 is a novel virus, so there is a lot we don’t know, and we’re learning new things every day,” said Dr. Angela Dunn, Utah State Epidemiologist. “When someone transitions from positive to negative is one of those. So currently the recommendations are, based on symptoms ... once they’ve completed seven days of isolation and 72 hours symptom free, they’re not likely to transmit the virus.”
Dr. Kashif Memon, an infectious disease specialist, said the ability to test more people, more quickly will help in gaining the upper hand against the spread of the virus.
“I think things will get a lot better, if we get more testing kits supplied,” Dr. Memon said. “If we get the rapid diagnostic ... we can diagnose this or rule out this in two to four hours, I think life will get much, much better.”
He said he wasn’t sure on a timeline for a test that would rule out or confirm COVID-19 in a matter of hours in every clinic and emergency room, but he said maybe “two to four weeks.”
The second half of the town hall focused on what people can do to help children manage their new reality, and what is available for those suffering economically. Lt. Governor Spencer Cox said there are a number of groups working on issues from child care to economic relief for small businesses, and said even his own family is trying to adjust to the new reality.
“You’ve heard a lot about flattening the curve,” Cox said. “We want to make sure we’re doing what we can to flatten the dip, the economic dip we’re heading into. ... We recognize this is going to have an immediate impact. We feel for people who are struggling right now. ... We want to make sure people have access to the resources are available right now.”
He said there is help for individuals at jobs.utah.gov and help for businesses at coronoavirus.utah.gov. He had a specific suggestion for those want to help local businesses — buy gift cards. That gives the company cash now, and the customer can enjoy a nice meal or night out when the restrictions are lifted.
Dr. Anthony Pavia, from University of Utah Health and Primary Children’s Hospital, said family members of someone who tests positive have about a 15% chance of contracting the virus. He admonished young people in particular
“They’re basically sabotaging the effects of social distancing,” he said. “It only works if we all contribute by not mixing, by not going to mass gatherings, by not doing the things we know spread (the virus).”
Cox acknowledged that many of the restrictions will change the way we mark milestones, including graduations, birthdays and anniversaries. He said his family celebrated his father’s birthday by using FaceTime, and families may have to get creative about how they connect.
Dr. Travis Mickelson, associate medical director of mental health integration at Intermountain Healthcare, suggested investigating mindfulness techniques to manage stress and warned that focusing on the past causes depression and ruminating about the future can increase anxiety.
“That reminds us of being able to find ways to stay in the moment,” he said. “When we go on that walk in the mountains and really smell the air or feel the ground under our feet that can really bring us into that moment and focus us and help distract us from things we might have missed or things we’re worried about.”
Jen Wagenaar, chief nursing executive for MountainStar, HCA Healthcare, suggested that while parents have their children at home, they help them feel like they’re doing something by writing letters to first responders, including health care workers or elderly who are unable to have visitors for the foreseeable future.
“An extra dose of kindness to those working under high stress situations at the grocery stores right now,” she added. “(Those) are all wonderful ways to keep yourself occupied, busy, thinking about positive things ... and share with your community in ways that are safe.”