9 March 2020 — 0445 mdt
Flathead County’s heath department’s coronavirus
website is not good enough and may be misleading
▶ World Health Organization.
▶ National Institutes of Health
▶ U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
▶ U.S. Food & Drug Administration
▶ Montana DPHHS coronavirus
▶ The Flathead County Health Department directs you to the CDC.
▶ Kalispell Regional Healthcare.
▶ Kaiser Health News
We do not yet have extensive information on the extent to people in Montana have been exposed to, or infected with, Wuhan Fever (Covid-19). That’s because very little testing has occurred. According to Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services, just 11 persons have been tested. No test result has come back positive for the virus, but because so little testing has occurred (a shortage of test kits, highly restrictive testing protocols; see Hanage) the lack of a positive test result should not be considered proof that Montana is essentially Wuhan Fever free.
Therefore, since they don’t yet know enough to know whether Montana is in big fever trouble, public health officials should not paint a rosy picture of the situation. But Flathead County’s heath department seems not to have gotten that common sense message. On its coronavirus webpage — which lacks a date and time stamp — the department asserts:
Although the current risk to people in Flathead County from the new coronavirus (COVID-19) remains low (with no local cases), it is important to stay informed.
Except for Flathead County, all of the reference websites in the box at upper right date and time stamp their updates.
Flathead County also asserts that:
Currently, COVID-19 is not spreading widely in the United States. Steps you can take to prevent the spread of influenza and the common cold will also help to prevent coronavirus:
- Wash hands often with soap and water. If not available use hand sanitizer.
- Avoid contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home while you are sick and avoid close contact with others.
- Cover your mouth/nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
“Spreading widely” is a subjective term that the FCHD does not define, and that therefore is of limited descriptive value, especially when the date it was made was not identified. Yesterday’s Washington Post published maps of the known cases in the United States and around the world; this is the way to present information on a situation in which there are many unknowns, and in which the knowns are feared to be the tip of the iceberg.
As for “use hand sanitizer,” that’s good advice — but where in the Flathead Valley, or anywhere else, can you buy a small bottle of hand sanitizer (which is gelled and denatured ethanol at a concentration of at least 60 percent) or rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol? Or alcohol soaked hand wipes, or ammonium chloride soaked disinfecting wipes? When I bought groceries and supplies a week ago, the shelves for these items were empty.
The FCHD presents no information on the risks of home brew hand sanitizers, recipes for which are rife on the internet. My research indicates many of these recipes — especially the ones using vodka, which is at best only 50 percent ethanol — produce a slimy gel with too low an alcohol content to do much sanitizing.
Then there is the risk of using ethanol denatured with methanol, which is toxic and absorbed through the skin. Denatured ethanol often is sold in hardware stores, and sometimes used as a fuel for portable stoves and gasoline engines. It’s not a liquid with which you should sanitize your hands.
Not all of the FHDP’s advice is bad. But some is dated. And certain of the department’s conclusions are questionable. The overall — and undated —message is “wash your hands and don’t worry, everything is under control.” That approach leads me to worry about the ability of the FCHD to deal with a Wuhan Fever epidemic. I’ve listed the department’s website because people should be aware of local resources, but I recommend going elsewhere for useful information.