Buy back-up food and water. Make sure there’s enough dog food in the house. Have medicines for respiratory illnesses on hand.

Just in case.

Dr. Michelle Barron, an infectious disease specialist at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, on Wednesday likened preparing for the spread of the new strain of coronavirus within the United States to preparing for a hefty winter snowstorm.

More than anything, state public health officials are urging Coloradans to stay informed about the virus — more formally known as COVID-19 — by consulting reliable information sources such as the websites of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s appropriate to say we will probably see more cases in the U.S. and throughout the world, but I don’t think that should set off an alarm,” said Barron, the medical director of infection control and prevention at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.

“What do we do when a snowstorm is coming?” she asked. “Most people don’t panic. This is not a moment for you to start worrying and having anxiety. It’s a moment to think, ‘OK, if schools are canceled, what am I going to do with my kids? If I have a sick relative and I can’t get to her, who is going to watch my mom who I normally take care of?'”

On Tuesday, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is not a question of “if” but “when” the coronavirus begins spreading in the United States. Also Tuesday, leaders at the U.S. National Institutes of Health said the world is “teetering very, very close” to a pandemic — a global epidemic.

Fourteen cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed in the United States as of Wednesday, according to the CDC. An additional 45 people infected with the virus have been brought back to the U.S. either from China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan.

No one in Colorado has tested positive for the virus as of Wednesday, according to the state health department.

More than 80,000 cases have been confirmed globally as of Tuesday with more than 2,760 fatalities. The respiratory sickness was first detected in Wuhan City, China, and continues spreading to other countries around the world.

Ready for Ebola, SARS and more

Colorado has developed pandemic response plans in the last couple years in preparation for illnesses such as SARS, swine flu and Ebola in 2014, said Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

“We’ve built tools and protocols to monitor travelers and developed disease investigation protocols,” Herlihy said. “Our pandemic response plans we’ve been working on definitely have social distancing and community mitigation measures that are accounted for in those plans, but it’s certainly important for businesses to prepare and understand there could be disruption if we were to see transmission in Colorado.”

Because there’s not an ongoing transmission of the coronavirus in the country at the moment, Herlihy said the only people potentially at risk — who should seek medical care if they develop a fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms — are those who have traveled internationally to destinations where COVID-19 is spreading such as China or South Korea.

As for Denverites, Bob McDonald, executive director of Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, said the city always has had an emergency plan in place for infectious disease.

“We have quarantine isolation protocols in place, communications in place to reach out to jobs, schools to provide guidance should it enter into their facility,” McDonald said. “It’s important to keep things in perspective”

Coronaviruses are not new, McDonald said.

“This one is unique in that there’s not as much known about it, but the controls to contain the spread of it are no different than the controls someone would implement to keep themselves from contracting the cold virus or influenza,” McDonald said.

Wash your hands with soap and water. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Sneeze and cough into a sleeve rather than your hand. Avoid contact with anyone with cold or flu symptoms. Stay home from work or school if sick.

Face masks and the common flu

While face masks can be important protective equipment for health care workers, they’re not the most effective in preventing the spread of sickness for the average citizen walking around — someone who is more likely to contract illness from touching an infected surface and then touching their mouth or nose, state health officials said.

“In the hospital setting, we use them when we’re taking care of children who have coughing, cold, runny roses,” said Chris Nyquist, medical director for infection prevention control at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “One of the challenges is, nationwide and internationally, there’s limited supplies for the masks, so it’s really important for people to use them appropriately.”

Coloradans are at a much greater risk of contracting the seasonal flu than the new coronavirus, Herlihy said. Three Colorado children have died from influenza during the 2018-2019 season.

“Some things that make this different from influenza is we have an influenza vaccine and pharmaceutical interventions that are possible with influenza,” Herlihy said. “This is a new virus, so we don’t know as much about it. We don’t have as much experience managing cases. There is lots of information to be learned and lots of preparation to be done.”

Samuel Gomez, of Westminster, said his wife worried after hearing the CDC warn Americans this week to prepare for “significant disruption” to their daily lives.

“We have a 17-month-old at home, so we started preparing in case there’s some sort of lockdown,” Gomez said. “We looked at our pantry and are making a plan of what kind of canned food items we’re going to buy just to be prepared.”

Gomez said he’s not too worried about the virus itself just yet, but wants to make sure he’s well-stocked in case there is a time when Coloradans are flocking to get dwindling supplies.

“We’re ensuring we have Vicks, elderberry, Nyquil,” Gomez said. “We’re just seeing what happens.”

“Much like a snow day”

Dale Chu asked officials at his daughter’s school, Renaissance Montessori Academy in Parker, whether they were doing anything in preparation for the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the Parker school sent a letter to parents saying the school already has a “robust illness policy” as well as cleansing, sanitizing and disinfectant schedule. In addition, the letter said the school reports to the state health department when there are many people out due to the same illness or symptoms, and follows the department’s guidance from there.

“If a closure due to illness were to occur… it would be dealt with much like a snow day,” the letter said. “Also, if an illness spreads so much so that we don’t have enough staff to keep the school operating with proper ratios, we may have to make hard decisions on our open hours and number of children we can accept each day during the time of illness. We hope to not have to do this, but the admin team has discussed it and we will be ready if it were to happen.”

Wednesday evening, Denver Public Schools officials said they planned to send a letter to parents informing them about the risks of the new coronavirus and the steps the district is taking to monitor for any outbreaks in the city’s schools.

It also includes some very basic advice that doesn’t just apply to the coronavirus: Keep your kids home if they’re sick.

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