As you may be aware the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring developments around an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hebei Province, China. Chinese authorities identified the new virus, which has resulted in hundreds of confirmed cases in China with additional cases being identified in a growing number of countries internationally. The first case in the United States was announced on January 21, 2020 in Washington State.
Littleton Regional Healthcare (LRH) currently has a patient whose travel history and symptoms point to a suspected – not yet confirmed – case of coronavirus. This is a respiratory virus similar to influenza. From the moment LRH was notified that the patient was being transported to our hospital, we followed all CDC recommendations to mitigate risk to any other patients and the public at large. We have continued to follow CDC recommendations and guidelines for infection control precautions, just as we do for any influenza-type type virus. We will continue to be in close contact with the CDC and will continue to follow all of their recommendations until we are able to get results back. We will update the public when this information is made available to us.
Please note that there is no risk to public health by being in the LRH facility and operations are continuing as normal.
Questions related to the Coronavirus can be directed to the New Hampshire Public Health line at (603) 271-4496. Media inquiries should be directed to Gail Clark, Director of Development, Marketing and Community Relations, at (603) 444-9304.
