There are a number of effective steps you can take to protect your health as well as the health of your family:

• Washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after using the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose or sneezing.
• Use hand sanitizer effectively with an adequate amount for the hands to be wet and scrubbed for 20 seconds.  Keep rubbing until dry.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Routinely disinfect commonly used surfaces such as door knobs, handles, countertops, electronic devices, touch screens, and cell phones.
• Masks are recommended as a way to protect each other against COVID-19:

All other flu prevention steps can be used to prevent COVID-19.  

Resources:

• Poster, CDPH, COVID-19 Prevention Tips, 8.5 x 11, Mar. 18, 2020     
•  Hand washing video, Mar. 5, 2020
• Disinfectants (Antimicrobials) for use against COVID-19, Mar. 5, 2020

• Mask Guidance, Resident English| Espanol

•  CDC Mask Patterns (both sewn &  non-sewn) 

• Mask Guidance, Resident English| Espanol

•  CDC Mask Patterns (both sewn &  non-sewn) 

COVID-19 produces a wide range of symptoms ranging from mild to severe illness, usually within 2-14 days after exposure:

Testing is determined by your doctor (depends on need/availability).  The process looks like:

• If you have COVID-19 symptoms:  fever of 100.4 +, cough, shortness of breath
• Then assume you are positive for COVID-19
• Self-isolate until 3 days after your fever subsides without medicine, or 7 days after starting sick, whichever is longer
• Call your physician, who will determine if you need to be seen or tested
• There is no know cure; doctors can prescribe supportive care to treat symptoms such as fever
•  Seek immediate medical care if symptoms become more severe

If you are not sure, but you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 because:

• You have been in close contact (within 6 feet) with someone who has either:
• Tested positive for COVID-19
• Has the travel history to affected areas & COVID-19 symptoms

Then fill out a COVID-19 Community Feedback Form.  Public Health will respond within 24 hours.

For more information:

•  COVID-19 Scenarios:  Was I exposed and when should I be tested?, Mar. 15, 2020
• COVID-19:  ¿He sido expuesto y necesito hacerme la prueba?, Mar. 15, 2020

• "Home isolation" means staying home because of testing positive for COVID-19 or being ill with COVID-19-like symptoms.
• Quarantine" means staying home due to exposure to COVID-19 and have yet to develop symptoms.

Find out how to properly isolate or quarantine:   English | Espanol

COVID-19 Glossary of terms

Airborne transmission:  transmission of a microorganism where droplet nuclei (residue from evaporated droplets) or dust particles containing microorganisms can remain suspended in air for long periods of time.  The organism’s must be capable of surviving for long periods of time outside the body and must be resistant to drying.

Asymptomatic:  presenting no symptoms of disease.  In the case of COVID-19, this means absence of fever, dry cough, sore throat, shortness of breath and body aches.  It is recommended that individuals do not get tested unless they exhibit symptoms because the risk of false negatives. 

CD:  “Communicable Disease” or CD, is a branch of the Health Department that works to promptly identify, prevent and control infectious diseases that pose a threat to public health, including emerging and re-emerging infectious disease, vaccine-preventable agents bacterial toxins, bioterrorism, and pandemics. 

CDC:  “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” or CDC, is the leading national public health institute of the United States.  It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

CDPH:  “California Department of Public Health” or CDPH, is the state department responsible for public health in California.  It is a subdivision of the California Health and Human Services Agency.  It enforces some of the laws in the California Health and Safety Codes, notably the licensing of some types of healthcare facilities.

CFR:  “Case Fatality Rate” or CFR, is the proportion of deaths from a certain disease compared to the total number of people diagnosed with the disease for a certain period of time.

CalREDIE: “The California Reportable Disease Information Exchange”, is a secure system that the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has implemented for electronic disease reporting and surveillance. 

Chloroquine:  is a medication that may be used in the treatment of COVID-19.  Chloroquine phosphate is in a class of drugs called antimalarials and amebicides.  It is traditionally used to prevent and treat malaria.  It is also used to treat amebiasis. 

Clinical trial:  research experiments on human participants designed to answer questions about new treatments; in the case of COVID-19 and coronaviruses, the safety and efficacy of a potential vaccine.

Community spread:  the spread of a contagious disease in a geographic area in which there is no knowledge of how someone contracted the disease.  In other words, no known contact can be traced to other infected individuals.

Comorbidity:  the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient.

Confirmed positive case:  in contrast to presumptive positive case, this is confirmation from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a positive COVID-19 in an individual.

Containment:  is a plan that public health officials use to stop the rapid spread of a contagious disease like COVID-19.  This includes using contact tracing to find and isolate sick individuals and quarantine individuals.

Contract tracing:  identifying and monitoring people who may have come into contact with an infectious person.  In the case of COVID-19, monitoring usually involves self-quarantine as an effort to control the spread of disease.

Coronavirus:  a family of viruses that include SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) as well as other respiratory illnesses.  A coronavirus, also known as a CoV, is typically spread between animals and humans – an event known as zoonotic transfer – and they are named for the term ‘corona’ – Latin for crown – which refers to the shape of the virus when observed microscopically. 

COVID-19:  stands for novel coronavirus disease 2019, which refers to the year of its initial detection.  COVID-19 is the illness related to the current pandemic; the illness is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2).

Epidemic: a widespread occurrence of an infection disease in a community or geographic area. 

Epidemiology:  a branch of medicine which deals largely with public health, including the incidence, distribution, analysis and control of diseases.

FRI:  “Febrile Respiratory Illness” or FRI, is defined as new or worsening episode of either cough or shortness of breath, presenting with fever or chills in the previous 24 hours.

Flattening the curve:  an attempt to create a more gradual uptick of cases, rather than a steep rise, in an effort to avoid overburdening the health care system all at once.  Notably, “flattening the curve” does not necessarily decrease the projected number of cases, but spreads them out over a period of time.

HCW:  “Healthcare Worker” or HCW.

Immunosuppressed:  an individual who experiences reduced efficacy of the immune system as a result of health conditions not related to COVID-19 disease.  People who are immunosuppressed are at greater risk for hospitalization and severe sickness form SARS-CoV2 virus.

Incubation period:  the time between when an individual is first exposed to the virus and the appearance of symptoms.  A person level of contagion before symptoms arise is not known, although most experts believe people are most contagious after they begin exhibiting symptoms. 

Index case:  the first documented case of an infectious disease. 

Index patient:  the first person infected with a disease in an epidemic.  Interchangeable with the term “patient zero”. 

Intubation:  the insertion of a tube into a patient’s body, especially that of an artificial ventilation tube into the trachea.

Isolation:  separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.  Isolation is usually voluntary, but in an emergency, officials have the authority to isolate people who are sick. 

Lockdown:  an emergency measure in which individuals are restricted from certain areas in an attempt to control exposure or transmission of disease.  In a lockdown during an epidemic, individuals are encouraged to stay home.

MCH:  “Madera Community Hospital”, or MCH, is a hospital located in the city of Madera.

Mitigation:  when containment is no longer effective at controlling the spread of disease, public health officials use mitigation strategies to lessen the impact of the contagious disease.  Some mitigation efforts include promoting more social distancing, limiting large gatherings at which the disease might spread, and potentially even closing schools or canceling sporting events.

N95:  Particulate respirator type N95, is a particulate respirator with a filter that meets the N95 air filtration rating, meaning that it filters at least 95% of airborne particles but is not resistant to oil.  It is the most common particulate filtering face piece respirator.

National emergency:  a state of emergency resulting from the global threat of the pandemic.  On March 13, 2020, President Trump issued a national emergency concerning the COVID-19 outbreak, which allowed for loosened restrictions on tele-health as well as certain requirements for hospitals and health care providers to allow them to respond to the crisis.

Novel coronavirus:  a new strain of coronavirus, or nCoV that has never been detected in humans.

PPE:  “Personal Protective Equipment”, or PPE, is specialized clothing and equipment used as a safeguard against health hazard including exposure to infection disease through physical contact or airborne particles.  PPE is designed to protect parts of the body typically exposed to normal attire, including the nose, mouth, eyes, hands and feet.  Notably, , N95 respirators are considered ideal for health care workers who may be exposed to SARS-CoV2.

PUI:  a “person under investigation”, is an individual who is suspected of potentially having COVID-19.

Pandemic:  a worldwide spread of an infectious disease, with larger reach than an epidemic.  Until COVID-19, the last pandemic was the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009.

Patient zero:  the first individual infected with a disease during an epidemic.

Person-to-person transmission:  when a virus is spread between people, including physical contact or coughing and sneezing.  This is in contrast to when a virus is spread via animals or through contaminated objects or surfaces.

Presumptive positive case:  an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 by a local public health lab, but whose results are awaiting confirmation from the CDC.

Probable case:  a case where contact tracing findings consistent with COVID-19 ground glass opacities or the patient has had close contact with a laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19

Quarantine:  separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.  Quarantined people may or may not become sick; but separating them from those who were never exposed helps prevent the spread of the disease.  Quarantine can be voluntary, but in an emergency, officials have the authority to quarantine people who have been exposed to an infectious disease.

RCT:  “Rapid Contact Tracing” or RCT, is the process of identifying and monitoring people who may have come into contact with an infectious person.  In the case of COVID-19, monitoring usually involves self-quarantine as an effort to control the spread of disease.

R₀:  in epidemiology, the basic reproduction number of an infection.  The expected number of cases directly generated by one case in a population where all individuals are susceptible to infection. 

Respirator:  a device designed to protect individuals from inhaling something hazardous in the air, in this case, particulate that may be contaminated with the SARS-CoV2 virus.

SARS-CoV2:  the virus fully defined as “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” causes the disease COVID-19.

Screening:  the act of verifying symptoms and potential exposure before testing for the virus.

Self-isolation:  the act of separating oneself from others.

Self-quarantine:  the act of refraining from any contact with other individuals for a period of time – in the case of COVID-19, two weeks – to observe whether any symptoms of the disease will arise after potential exposure. 

Shelter-in-place:  typically issued by local government, a shelter-in-place asks residents to remain at home and only leave to perform duties deemed essential in an effort to slow transmission of and exposure to the virus.

Social distancing:  the act of remaining physically apart in an effort to stem transmission of COVID-19.  Social distancing can include a move to remote work, the cancellation of events and remaining at least six feet away from other individuals.

Super-spreader:  a highly contagious individual who can spread an infectious disease to a large number of uninfected people through a network of contacts.

Suspect case:  a patient who is symptomatic with a pending test.

Symptomatic:  showing symptoms of COVID-19, which can include a fever, dry cough, shortness of breath and body aces.  Health officials believe the risk of transmitting the virus is highest when an individual is symptomatic.

Vaccine:  a biological preparation of organisms that provides immunity to a particular infections disease.  Currently, there is no vaccine for COVID-19.

Ventilator:  a machine designed to move air in and out of the lungs for a patient who is physically unable to breathe or who is not breathing well.  COVID-19 can cause severe lower respiratory infection, ventilators are a critical machine for patients with severe disease.

WHO:  World Health Organization, is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.  It is part of the U.N. Sustainable Development Group.

updated 04/14/20