The situation around the novel coronavirus changes daily, but one thing is pretty clear: It鈥檚 getting worse.
That鈥檚 why Greater Washington鈥檚 hospitals and health clinics are preparing for an influx of patients with symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus 鈥� while preserving the health of their own staff and other patients.
Inova Health System has actually seen a decrease in patients in the last few days, 鈥渓ikely related to patients taking the advice for social distancing seriously,鈥� said Dr. Stephen Jones, its president and CEO. But 鈥渨e anticipate a high likelihood that that will change 鈥� predicting exactly when it changes is difficult, but we are prepared for that.鈥�
The preparation started in mid-January, when the Falls Church-based health system created a task force to determine how to best care for patients should the outbreak continue, which 鈥渟eemed like it might be an abundance of caution but now, it certainly doesn鈥檛 seem like it鈥檚 anything鈥�
