by: Christina Salonikas
Posted: Feb 25, 2020 / 09:45 PM CST / Updated: Feb 25, 2020 / 09:45 PM CST
DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Department of Public Health is monitoring seven people in the state for the coronavirus following travels to China.
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, the seven people being monitored currently haven’t shown symptoms of the novel coronavirus.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Caitlin Pedati said, “The way that these patients could be managed would be based upon their clinical needs as well as public health issues like if there were concerns about spread to other people. We would balance those two things in determining where a patient would be best served. So, there’s not a specific center. We work very closely with all health care facilities across Iowa to consider these sorts of things.”
The virus spreads between people who are in close contact
with each other through coughing or sneezing.
Pedati said the Iowa Department of Public Health is waiting for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to make test kits available at the state level. Right now, the primary location to test for the virus is in Atlanta.
“The CDC has been working very closely with laboratory
partners to make those test kits available and our own state hygienic laboratory
will be ready once we receive those to be able to perform that test,” Pedati
said.
In total, there have been two people tested for the coronavirus in Iowa, both negative, and 30 cases monitored overall by the Iowa Department of Public Health.
