If you would like the Times Observer to submit a question to the WGH medical team, email jsitler@timesobserver.com and we will forward those questions.

Three questions about the coronavirus outbreak

Answers provided by medical team at Warren General Hospital: Joe Akif, Chief Nursing Officer; Michele Welker, RN, Infection Control Nurse; Beth Anderson, RN, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator; Keith Price, MD,Medical Director.

Q: When I have to go out to shop or run an errand, what kind of gloves offer the best protection – washable cloth or disposable?

Joe Akif

A: Infectious disease experts recommend AGAINST wearing gloves in public as a precaution. Some even say it may spread infections faster from a false sense of security that they are protective. The most important recommendations when out in public are to: 1). Maintain social distancing,

Avoid touching your face, eyes, & mouth and WASH HANDS OR USE A HAND SANITIZER FREQUENTLY.

The same holds true with masks for healthy people when out in the public; they are NOT recommended. If a person has symptoms of cough & fever and must leave home, then a mask should be worn.

Q: Is there any chance of contracting the virus from mail or the newspaper, both of which are delivered daily to my house?

A: This mode of transmitting the infection has never been reported & is thought to be very unlikely. If you want to be extra cautious, after opening your mail, immediately dispose of the envelopes or packaging and WASH YOUR HANDS.

Michele Welker

Since the virus may stay alive for hours on cardboard & up to 2-to-3 days on stainless steel & plastic, clean the surface where you opened it with a disinfectant.

Q: Is there a possibility that there are carriers in Warren County now that don’t know they have this? How much more contagious is this than a bad strain of flu, and how much more dangerous is it in terms of death rates?

A: In places that have been hit hard by this infection, there is a percentage of people who are infected who have minimal or no symptoms. This percentage varies widely in medical studies, anywhere from 10% to 60%. One reason the answer is not more clear is the lack of available testing. It is much more likely to be spread, though, from people who have symptoms. (This makes sense, since it’s a droplet infection usually spread by coughing.)

Seasonal influenza leads to death in 1 out of 1000 cases, around 40,000 every year in the U.S.

COVID-19 seems to cause death in about 10 to 30 cases out of 1,000, and it is significantly more contagious than seasonal flu.

Bethany Anderson