Aloha, Friend.

The first confirmed deaths in the U.S. from the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) tragically underscore how seriously we must all take this public health emergency. I want to share with you what I know currently from federal and state experts and to provide you with resources to keep fully informed and prepared.  

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that can spread from person to person. Symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. 

From all appearances this virus is new to humans, meaning two things. First, there is much that is still not known about it such as how it will respond to seasonal changes. Second, we do not have immunities either naturally or by prior contact or by vaccination. 

At this time, most people in the United States are at little risk of exposure to COVID-19. However, those that do become exposed, besides being able to pass it on to others, can get very sick, and there is more risk than common viruses especially to those who are less immune to disease or elderly. 

Dependable test kits are just now being developed and distributed, including in Hawai'i where our State Department of Health is now able to test for COVID-19. Some current drugs intended for other purposes may be effective and those are being tested for use against COVID-19. An effective vaccine is at least a year away. This means that we will likely be dealing with coronavirus for at least that long.  

Prevention, meaning to try to keep the virus out of as many of our communities as possible, is still the best method to address this threat. However, mitigation, meaning containment once it is in a community, as it now is in some, must also be planned and pursued. 

Very good professionals are working on all of these initiatives. In the next few weeks Congress will pass and send to the President an emergency supplemental appropriations bill targeting billions of dollars at all of these efforts at the federal level together with major assistance to state and local governments and non-governmental organizations which are bearing much of the on-site efforts.  

Although there is no reason to panic, there is also no reason to take this threat for granted. There is further absolutely no reason to politicize any of this as coronavirus doesn’t care much about all that and we have to focus on this together. 

There is much that you can do, especially in prevention. Here are some tips and common sense measures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that you can use to protect yourself and your loved ones: 

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. 
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. 
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. 

If you are sick, to keep from spreading respiratory illness to others, you should: 

• Stay home except to get medical care  
• Call ahead before visiting your doctor 
• Wear a facemask 
• Cover your coughs and sneezes 
• Avoid sharing personal household items 
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. 
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. 

Here is a link from the CDC where you can obtain more information and keep up to date on the national and international level: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html.

To get the very latest on what is happening in Hawai‘i, the Hawai‘i State Department of Health continually updates the situation on this web page: https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/advisories/novel-coronavirus-2019/. 

If you have any questions at all that are not getting answered elsewhere, please don’t hesitate to contact me here: http://case.house.gov/contact/. 

I wish you and yours the very best as we all get through this together. Be well.