GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — Officials in charge of health, travel and education in Wisconsin are gearing up this week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to prepare for the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
They’re now calling the virus CoViD19, and Dr. Ryan Westergaard with the Wisconsin Department of Medicine says the chances of the virus coming to Wisconsin are increasing.
“Because of an increase in the number of countries where there seems to be person-to-person spread, that makes the overall probability higher,” Westergaard told reporters Wednesday.
Person-to-person outbreaks have been reported in Italy, Iran, and on a cruise ship in Japan.
Jeff Phillips with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, says they’re already working with local health departments to prepare.
“Local public health are our boots on the ground,” Phillips said. “The information that is in their response planning I think is going to help us prevent person-to-person transmission.”
Wisconsin Deputy Administrator for Public Health Chuck Warzecha says the preparation is similar to measures local health departments have already planned for in case of a particular bad flu strain.
“Our local health departments have been preparing for many years, decades, to prepare for pandemic influenza, and this is very similar,” he said Wednesday.
It’s not just health officials, either. UW-Green Bay is monitoring the situation as well.
“We’re closely working with our international student population, as well as students studying abroad,” said Brent Blahnik, the Director of International Education at UW-Green Bay. “We have brought one student back early from an overseas study abroad program out of an abundance of caution.”
Only one case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in the state of Wisconsin, with a few more tests still pending. 53 cases have been reported within the United States.
