Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As New York and other states try to come up with plans to reopen businesses following the coronavirus pandemic, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says numbers won't be the only fctor in determining when to get back to normal.
Azar says the testing capability is there. "Every state has the capability for certainly phase one of the reopening and we're working with the governors under the National Testing Strategy we laid out to increase their work flow to advance even further along," says Azar.
"It's really going to be what the disease burden is in your area, because Des Moines is going to be different from Manhattan and we need to recognize that so we can get people back to work," adds Azar.
Azar also gave advice to those who have a medical emergency to go to the hospital. "Over the last several months, our hospitals and our health care workers have learned so much about infectious disease control. At the beginning of January, we alerted our health care providers to look for the symptoms of COVID. That's what identified our earliest cases," says Azar. "Since then, they've set up fever centers and triage and infection protocols to make sure people aren't just walking in and exposing others to the disease." He advises to call ahead and use telemedicine, and get instructions about getting into the right entryway if you're going in for something unrelated.