Bay Area hospitals and schools aren’t taking any chances.
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital already has 40 airborne infection isolation rooms where patients diagnosed with novel coronavirus would be treated.
What’s unique about the room is that it has negative pressure, designed to keep the novel coronavirus and any other infectious diseases from spreading to other parts of the hospital.
“It helps prevent the spread of the virus when pressure is negative, it keeps the air in the room exhausting out and prevents it from going out into the hallway,” said Director of Clinical Operations Jeffrey Schmidt.
The isolation room have two doors and a special entry room where health care workers can put on and take off face shields, gowns and other protective equipment.
This week the hospital also put up these signs at the entrance warning those who’ve recently travelled outside the U.S. and have fever or cough to alert healthcare staff immediately.
A team meets every day to work on coordinating any potential response to novel coronavirus.
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It’s not just hospitals preparing, schools are also beefing up protections for students and teachers.
“We recently got direction from our public health officer than any student or staff that have been in China since Feb. 2 stay at home for a 14-day quarantine period,” said nurse Melinda Landau from the San Jose Unified School District.
The district is also keeping a close eye on students with a high fever and plans to isolate them immediately and send them home to recover.
Oakland Unified is following the same protocol.
