PHO Happy With Response to COVID-19

During the joint Johnson County Emergency Operations Center/ Johnson County Healthcare Center media briefing Friday, County Health Officer Dr. Mark Schueler said he is pleased with how well the state has done in fighting the corona virus.

He said he is amazed at how few inpatient cases there have been so far, and how few deaths there have been in the state. Based on early projections, it looked much bleaker than it has turned out.

He said he is encouraged about the recent discussions about resuming “normal” economic lifestyle and he thinks it may be time to look at balancing mental health and economic impacts and allowing people to get back to work and kids back to school, although it may take some time to get back to normal.

Dr. Schueler said continuing to wear cloth masks in public for awhile longer may look strange, but studies show that the amount of viru spread around less with a mask than without.

And, he said, it may serve as a reminder to all of us that we’re still in the battle, but we’re doing a really good job and we’re winning.