UNLV’s Plan for the Coronavirus
As the Coronavirus spreads from Wuhan Hubei Province, China, and enters various states in America, the UNLV Student Health Center prepares services for what has yet to come.
The Health Center has released guidelines on Jan 23 to help students prevent contracting the illness in the mean-time.
Kathy Underwood, executive Director of Student Health Services at UNLV, shares her knowledge of the plans for what the university has in store prior to the virus’ arrival.
“If someone has symptoms, we are advising students to immediately seek care at the Student Health Center, a local Urgent Care or Emergency Room,” Underwood said. “There they should be evaluated, receive appropriate treatment and receive advice on whether or not they can or should attend class and/or stay with family, roommates or if they should isolate themselves from others or seek additional care such as in a hospital.”
In general, the coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually cause mild respiratory disease, such as a common cold. However, some coronaviruses may cause more severe symptoms and even death. The Student Health Center first learned of the current outbreak originating in Wuhan City, China in December 2019. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continued to investigate, person-to-person transmission was identified. Upon further investigation, this version of Coronavirus was named COVID-19, and it was detected in the United States in late January 2020.
The symptoms of COVID-19 have remained the same but the understanding of transmission has changed. The screening recommendations by the CDC has changed depending on the geographical place of exposure and/or persons who had close contact with a laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19. Initially, testing was only conducted at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia but the CDC has now provided testing kits to local Health Departments including the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD).
Despite UNLV’s Health Center having the capabilities to help treat students on campus, there are still those who believe that it wouldn’t be their initial place of treatment.
Jenallee Limos, a junior nursing major, believes that going elsewhere would be her first thought.
“I would probably go to the emergency room because I just feel like even though unlv is convenient, I feel like emergency room staff would handle the situation better with more resources than the UNLV center,” Limos said.
The UNLV Student Health Center is well prepared to care for students who may become ill with the novel coronavirus or other infectious illnesses. Medical employees have been working to educate students, faculty and staff, first and foremost, on preventing illness and the spread of illness with frequent handwashing, avoiding contact with sick individuals, coughing or sneezing into a sleeve or tissue and not into hands, staying home if an individual is sick, and frequent cleaning of highly touched objects such as computers, phones, countertops and desks.
“As nurses and nurse practitioners, we have the training, knowledge, and experience required to screen and triage patients presenting with a multitude of complaints including respiratory illness,” Underwood said. “We have the ability to provide onsite testing to rule out other commonly occurring illnesses such as Influenza.”
Nurses educate the UNLV community about disease processes and preventing the spread of disease. Additionally, they have open lines of communication with the SNHD who maintains close collaboration with the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).
There are new updates on the coronavirus every day. The morning of March 5, the Southern Nevada Health District announced the first positive case of coronavirus disease 2019 in a Clark County resident. The male patient, in his 50s, is currently hospitalized and in airborne isolation. The patient’s recent travel history consists of departures from Washington and Texas, which both recently announced new cases related to the illness.
Once the coronavirus arrives, we will see if UNLV Student Wellness center is prepared to be put to the test.
