MIAMI (WSVN) - Healthcare workers across South Florida have set up quarantines inside of hospitals as they prepare for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus in the area.
At Mount Sinai Medical Center, the staff have been preparing for months and working on additional training.
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“Once we first heard of the coronavirus outbreak, we started looking at our supply chain and started to look at what we needed for supplies,” David Farcy, a doctor at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said. “We’ve been doing training of our staff on how to prepare for respiratory and airborne isolation and precaution. We need to prepare, but we cannot be afraid.”
From additional training to running drills, hospitals across South Florida are preparing for the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak, as the total of reported cases in the U.S. grows to more than 60.
North Shore Medical Center plans on using isolation rooms with patients to prevent the spread of the illness.
“We are prepared from the instant these people present to the hospital to the time when they’re completely cured of the virus,” Joseph Flagge, a doctor at North Shore Medical Center, said. “We have appropriate masks, appropriate cleaning devices and appropriate rooms such as this.”
At Jackson Memorial Hospital, nurses and doctors are already screening patients as a precaution, and they are asking patients if they’ve had any flu-like symptoms.
“As well as, ‘Have you been out of the country to certain countries?'” Jackson Health System COO Don Steigman said.
Most of the precautions underway are nearly identical to flu preparations, but with so many unknowns still surrounding the virus, doctors said educating staff and patients is important.
Some doctors said patients that have the coronavirus and were eventually sent home were given an information packet with tips on how to stay healthy once they leave the hospital.
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