UPDATED: 10:15 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Montgomery County officials said their preparations for the novel coronavirus had begun weeks before two presumptive cases were announced on Saturday.
According to Todd Steiritz with Montgomery County's Department of Public Safety, the county is updating pandemic plans that were most recently used in 2014 with the Ebola scare and in 2009 with H1N1.
He added there are already changes in the way 911 calls are handled. "Our telecommunicators wil now be asking 911 callers based on their description of a medical incident a few questions, to determine if they may be at risk for carrying the coronavirus," he explained.
For example, if a caller has symptoms like cough and fever, they can ask about any travel history so emergency crews responding to the call can take precautions to avoid exposure.
Michel Masters, Montgomery County's director of communicable diseases, said as they begin to think about possible quarantine situations, they're working with agencies like health and human services.
"What happens to people who don't get sick time, or if you take off you might not have a job, so we have to keep all of that in mind," she said.
Masters also said they will provide people who have to quarantine with things like thermometers and other equipment so they can monitor their health through email or phone calls. "And we are giving masks to individuals specifically who are quarantined," she shared, "so if they become symptomatic and they have to go to a physician."
Officials said both cases, a man and a woman, had been exposed to the virus in an area where it was already present. One lives in the eastern part of the county, while the other lives in the west. No other information on their identities or locations was given.
