Pulaski County Entities Coordinating Coronavirus Preparations

Pulaski County officials continue preparing for the potential spread of coronavirus. A preparedness coalition with representatives from the county health department, Pulaski Memorial Hospital, schools, major employers, and other officials met Monday.

“It was about 32 people there,” Health Department Office Manager Terri Hansen told the county council Monday night. “It’s very serious. It’s very possibly coming.”

County Health Officer Dr. Rex Allman said a lot is still unknown, but it appears that this coronavirus might spread more like measles or chicken pox than the flu. “What that means is it’s in the droplets,” he told council members. “The flu, usually if I don’t touch her and she doesn’t touch me and I don’t touch my face, I don’t get it. I get it from rubbing my nose. . . . Chicken pox, you breathe the little droplets, you get it.”

Allman worries that the only way to stop the spread will be through the eventual development of a vaccine. “It looks like this is the new normal, and we don’t know how long it’s going to last,” he said. “But as you can see, it’s only three months into this thing.”

During Monday’s Eastern Pulaski School Board meeting, Superintendent Dara Chezem said administrators are preparing for the possible need for eLearning days. “We did meet with the administration this afternoon to share this same information with them and just to have some discussions to be proactive that if this virus does come to our county and our county health officials recommend that we do close school for a couple of days, to be proactive and have those conversations in advance,” she told board members. “So we’re already having those discussions.”

Chezem said custodians will continue to sanitize the school buildings, and school officials will stay in contact with the county health department and prevention coalition.

Anyone who thinks they may have coronavirus is urged to call ahead before visiting the doctor to avoid spreading it. Updates on the virus’s spread can be found on the Indiana State Department of Health website.