About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2020)
‘Preparedness phase’ for health system on virus Officials plan to be ready if outbreak occurs in North Georgia SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Members of the Northeast Georgia Medical Center coronavirus task force meet Monday, March 2, to prepare for a response if an outbreak occurs. Coronavirus fears cause rush on masks, sanitizer BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Two cases of the novel coro navirus have been identified in Georgia, both in Fulton County, and local health care professionals are working to educate the public about the virus. Along with statewide task forces, the Northeast Georgia Health Sys tem has convened a local task force to help the medical system prepare should the virus make its way to Hall County and North Georgia. The global mortality rate of the virus has been about 2 to 2.5%, although risks are higher for elderly patients or those who have other chronic illnesses. More than 80% of coronavirus patients have mild, flu-like symptoms, according to Dr. Supriya Mannepalli, medical director of Northeast Georgia Phy sicians Group Infectious Disease. The coronavirus is also much less common than the flu. Accord ing to the Centers for Disease Con trol and Prevention, the country has seen about 32 to 45 million cases of the flu this season, as of the end of February. There have been 105 coronavirus cases in the U.S. The CDC estimates there have been about 18,000 to 46,000 flu deaths this season, through Feb. 22. According to the CDC, symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure and can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The CDC recommends calling a health care professional if you develop a fever and symptoms of respiratory illness, such as a cough or difficulty breathing, and have been in con tact with a person known to have coronavirus or if you live in or have recently traveled to an area ■ Please see VIRUS, 7A Face masks and hand sanitizer are top sellers these days at Riverside Pharmacy in Gainesville, as the coronavirus health threat continues to grow in the U.S. “If I had 5,000 masks right now, I could probably sell every one of them,” Riverside owner Scottie Barton said. “There’s a little bit of a panic going on. ” He said he hasn’t seen a rush on items to this extent since Y2K, or in late 1999, when there were concerns computers worldwide wouldn’t recognize the calendar turning to 2000 and cause extensive havoc. “That was the last thing that really hit us big,” Barton said. At the same time, with two cases confirmed in Georgia, concerns aren’t unfounded. Inside Senior centers taking steps to guard against virus, 7A “It’s ramping up a little bit,” Barton said. Otherwise, pharmacy staff are getting general questions about the health crisis. “The main thing we’re telling everybody is look at the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website,” he said. “From what I’m reading, I don’t think the masks are really that beneficial, which I think that will help out in a way with the demand,” Barton said. “That might slow (demand) a little bit.” Jeff Gill Officials say they can fix ballot mix-up BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville and Buford residents have been getting incorrect ballots for the March 24 presidential preference pri mary and special election, but a fix is in the works, Hall County officials said Tues day, March 3. With early voting starting Monday, March 2, residents in those cities are being asked to vote on the Hall County Schools $258 million bond referendum, a ballot question that should be reserved only for residents in Hall County school districts. Gainesville residents should be voting only on the Gainesville City Schools $83 million bond referendum. Gainesville, Buford and Hall County res idents are all voting on the education spe cial purpose local option sales tax, which, if approved, would continue an additional penny per dollar on the sales tax. The Times inquired about the issue after receiving a tip from a voter. “It was simply an internal mistake,” Hall County Administrator Jock Connell said. Officials said they will be able to cor rect the ballots through the Georgia Sec retary of State’s office after votes are in March 24, so that Gainesville and Buford votes on the Hall bond referendum won’t be counted. “We’re so thankful there is a solution,” said Tom Smiley, Hall County Elections Board chairman. “If it wasn’t resolvable, it would be a problem.” A future task will be to “look into how to make sure that kind of mistake doesn’t happen again,” he said. “We’ll just discuss it and see where that leads us. I can tell you ... we’ve got really good people work ing for us. I know them, I trust them, (but) sometimes mistakes happen.” Will Schofield, Hall County Schools superintendent, described the solution as “straightforward” and said, “The election results will not be affected. We are satis fied with the resolution.” Jeremy Williams, Gainesville City Schools superintendent, said that while the mixup “may lead to some confusion if you’re a city resident, we have confidence in the team and the solution.” He added: “We are looking forward to a great turnout later this month.” Schools and universities react to new coronavirus in Georgia BY KELSEY PODO kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com With the two confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, in Georgia, local school districts and universities are hastily updating their practices and protocols. Hall County Schools issued a new COVID-19 statement on Tues day, March 3, with requirements for students, faculty, staff and oth ers associated with the district. Students and staff members, who have traveled to a country designated at level two or higher in the past 14 days or live with some one who has done so, are required to stay home and self-monitor for 14 days. They must be fever free for 14 days before returning to their respective school. China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea are currently designated level three and are high risk, according to the Centers for Dis ease Control and Prevention. Japan is marked as level two. People can view an updated list of those countries by visiting cdc. gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov and clicking on the “Travel” bar. If a Hall student or staff mem ber shows COVID-19 symptoms during this self-monitoring period, they must notify the Depart ment of Public Health by calling 1-866-PUB-HLTH and seek medi cal assistance. All student coronavirus-related absences will be excused and assignments will be provided to students by the school. Parents or guardians of students or registering new students, who have traveled outside of the U.S. in the past 14 days, are asked to call their respective schools for guidance. They must call prior to their child coming to school or attending an on-campus activity. Hall faculty, volun teers and other district team members, who also meet the same criteria, are required to contact their principal or direct supervi sor before coming to work or any school campus activity. “We have protocols in place for additional steps for those individu als who have visited countries des ignated as ‘high risk’ by the federal government,” Hall Superintendent Will Schofield said in a statement on Tuesday. Mamie Coker, Hall’s health services coordina tor, is leading a 17-person team to prepare for a potential COVID-19 out break in the school system. The group is composed of representatives from emergency management, health services, student services, technology, maintenance, communications, and teaching and learning departments. The Georgia Department of Education has provided a set of guidelines for public schools to follow when faced with the novel coronavirus. Their protocols range in severity from zero to seven. Stan Lewis, Hall’s director of community relations, said Hall and Gainesville City Schools are still at a level zero, which addresses pre vention and preparedness. Gainesville City Schools is also putting together a COVID-19 pre paredness plan. Gainesville Superintendent Jer emy Williams said the district will finalize its protocols after having a ■ Please see SCHOOLS, 7A Schofield □ 40901 06835 8 INSIDE Business 9A Classified 8B Comics 7B Lottery 2A Opinion 8A TV/puzzles 6B WEATHER 2A Lake Lanier level: 1,075.05 feet Full pool 1,071. 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