January 31, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 28, 2020
Contact: Lisa Michelle Morrissey, MPH
City of Danbury Department of Health and Human Services Announces Preparations and Activities Related to the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
(Danbury, CT) – The City of Danbury Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is monitoring developments surrounding the respiratory outbreak first detected in Wuhan, China caused by a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The department is taking every measure to continue providing a healthy environment for our community.
The novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV is a type of coronavirus not previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). DHHS is collaborating with our community partners such as Nuvance Health (Danbury Hospital), Western Connecticut State University, local schools, and our neighboring towns as part of our continuing collaboration to protect the health of our community.
Director of Health Lisa Morrissey stated, “At this time we have no confirmed cases of 2019-nCOV in Connecticut. However we are in flu season, and hundreds of Connecticut residents have already been hospitalized for the flu. I urge residents to get their flu shot if they haven’t already and to stay home or contact their healthcare provider if they are sick.”
DHHS would like to remind Danbury residents that there are steps everyone should take to prevent respiratory illnesses – especially with influenza (flu) and respiratory disease season underway in Connecticut. These include getting the flu vaccine, washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, staying home when sick, and taking flu antivirals as prescribed.
In an effort to minimize the effects of the flu virus in our community, DHHS has scheduled standing office hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4:00 to 6:00, for the month of February, for anyone who is interested in getting a flu vaccine.
Please see the Fact Sheet below for more information about 2019-nCOV or influenza.
For updated information on 2019-nCoV, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html