GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The United States and the state of Wisconsin are seeing a significant rise in confirmed cases of COVID-19 as more testing becomes available.
“We’re working on the ability to test more and more people. When that comes out, we’ll start to get a better picture of what’s going on. But until we have that – the best thing we can do is stay safe at home,” says Prevea Health CEO, Dr. Ashok Rai.
But as the testing and numbers continue to grow, so do concerns about the reality behind the spread of the virus.
“We caught up to the rest of the world way too fast. Our rate of growth is extremely concerning – we haven’t seen it bend downward on the curve at all, if anything the upward slope continues to increase. So it’s extremely worrisome,” Rai says, “Testing is somewhat limited in Wisconsin, so our numbers are very underrepresented. And despite that under-representation, we saw more than a doubling in two days.”
As the testing continues and cases appear, we’re also learning more about the virus itself. That includes more symptoms related to COVID-19.
“Including the conversations we’ve had with patients that have tested positive within our organization, smell and taste is something that people are definitely seeing a change in. So we’re now using it as a triage screening tool,” Rai says, “In a lot of areas, it seems to precede a lot of the typical symptoms we’ve talked about such as fever, sore throat, and cough.”
While there is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, there are ways to reduce or even prevent the spread of the virus.
“The only way we can win this war is to let healthcare have time to prepare for those patients. And take care of them at a pace we can handle. The only way to do that is for everyone to stay safe at home,” Rai tells WTAQ News, “It’s not about symptoms, you have to act like you have the disease. Self-isolate, stay at home safe, and use that mindset – and we’ll do a lot better.”
Many local healthcare systems and hospitals are postponing and rescheduling operations of all kinds to make room and time to address the pandemic.
“To us – those would normally be considered essential. But this is a pandemic, and the definition of essential changes pretty rapidly,” Rai says, “We are sending as many healthcare workers home as we can until we need them to make sure that they stay safe at home and healthy…The best way you can say ‘thank you’ to healthcare is to stay safe at home.”
If you believe you may be suffering from symptoms of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider and follow any specific instructions they may have for you.
