UPDATED: 7:49 p.m.
So far, there is only one confirmed case in the city, and the city's Department of Public Health is working with providers to avoid a widespread outbreak.
On Wednesday evening, Philadelphia health officials said 39 people are now under investigation for coronavirus.
Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley began a symposium with health care providers on Wednesday by demonstrating the very guidelines he is recommending. He stayed home sick.
"I have what I'm fairly certain is a cold, but I thought it would not be a good idea for me to be there coughing on people," Farley said remotely.
The health department called the meeting to alert doctors and other health care professionals to special precautions they should take now that the new coronavirus is in the Philadelphia region.
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That includes isolating patients and quarantining potential cases, says Deputy Director Caroline Johnson. She says that protocol of isolation and quarantine is how the new coronavirus illness, COVID-19, differs from others.
"The idea of quarantine and isolation in homes is pretty new to physicians and health care providers in Philadelphia," she said. "They don't usually need to make recommendations, 'Stay home for 14 days.'"
Since January, she says, some 600 Philadelphians have voluntarily quarantined themselves after travel to countries with high numbers of coronavirus cases.
Officials from the region's health systems shared their coronavirus preparations with the city's health commissioner at the symposium.
What officials from region's health systems say
Chief medical officers and their staffs have been preparing for the arrival of the new coronavirus for a few months, stocking up on supplies and checking equipment and facilities. But with area hospitals at or near patient capacity, a surge in coronavirus cases could lay waste to the best-laid plans and overwhelm the healthcare system.
Jefferson's Jonathon Gleason believes that one way to possibly avoid that is by turning to what's called telehealth.
"We have trained just within the last week 500 providers to be able to turn their in-office visits into a virtual visit," Gleason said.
Penn Medicine CMO Patrick Brennan says another option that he personally isn't fond of is putting patients in non-clinical spaces, such as cafeterias and lobbies.
"We're thinking more seriously of how we can go off-site to another facility that we own," Brennan said.
Farley says the city is checking the long shot possibility of utilizing the building that used to be home to Hahnemann Hospital.
"It would not be a simple task by any means because it's been decommissioned. My understanding is that they're empty rooms. There are not even beds in there now and of course there's not staff there. However, we are looking into that," he added.
As for concerns about the ability of those in the food industry to afford sick leave, Ben Filecca with the Pennsylvania Lodging and Restaurant Association says luckily, the city passed an earned sick leave bill five years ago.
"Employers with 10 or more employees are required to provide paid sick leave, and employers with nine or fewer employees are required to provide unpaid sick leave," Filecca said.
Philadelphia's first corononavirus patient was tested when he developed symptoms after travel to Germany for a three-day conference, Johnson said.
When health officials began in January monitoring travelers returning from countries with coronavirus outbreaks, 20 tested negative. Tests are pending on 17 others.
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