Tallahassee officials met privately to develop coronavirus public health emergency response

Four days before state officials announced Florida's first coronavirus cases, local government staffers met privately at City Hall to develop a communications plan for when the virus did arrive in the Sunshine State.

The outcome of that meeting, according to Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna, is that the school system, hospitals and county health department will work “hand in hand” during the duration of the public health emergency Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Sunday night.

“We needed to be united and come out with one message instead of all of us saying 10 different things,” Hanna said about that meeting.

For now, that message is to continue to follow the federal government's flu-prevention tips to also combat the spread of coronavirus. That's according to a Monday joint news release.

The Thursday roundtable discussion was organized by Ron Sachs, CEO of Sachs Media Group, a Tallahassee-based crisis and strategic communications company. Sachs also distributed the news release. He told the Democrat he has not been retained by officials to handle the coronavirus response, but organized the meeting and distributed the release as a community partner.

The virus has been identified in two patients in Florida but it is unknown just how long the virus has been in Florida. Coronavirus shares many symptoms with influenza and infected folks may have shrugged off their illness as a case of the flu.

In addition to Hanna, the get-together also included Mayor John Dailey, County Administrator Vince Long and representatives from the Florida Department of Health-Leon County, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare and Capitol Regional Medical Center, Capital Health Plan, the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College.

No two elected officials from the same body attended, according to Hanna. And Sachs said the roundtable discussion was for informational purposes only, adding that it was “quickly pulled together with very little advance planning.”

“The Governor said last week that the State of Florida is ready, and we want everyone to know that the Tallahassee community is also prepared,” Dailey said in the the prepared statement. “We are actively monitoring the situation and are united in how we intend to prepare and protect the public.”

Nearly half of the officials who pitched in toward a coronavirus communications strategy — 11 out of the 25 — are with one of the city’s two hospitals, Capital Health Plan, or the Florida Department of Health-Leon County.

“Now that we have two confirmed cases in Florida, it is only a matter of time before there is a case here in Leon County,” Hanna said. “So I think it was very wise for us all to get together and be united with one message instead of all us saying 10 different things.”

Hanna said the challenge school officials face is to avoid overreacting while assuring parents and others that precautions are being taken: “We don’t want to isolate our children; we want them in school unless they are experiencing flu-like symptoms.”

A parental guide, for instance, was written last month when word of the new virus began to spread, and the school district posted it on Twitter. Among its advice:

Have your child watch a CDC video on proper handwashing at https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/index.html.

Demonstrate to your child how to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. They should throw the tissue away and immediately wash their hands.

If possible, avoid people who are sick.

Avoid touching one's own eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Health officials say the coronavirus seems to be more contagious than the flu but also caution that early numbers on deaths and infectious rates may not be accurate.

To keep up to date on the latest news and information on the coronavirus from the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO), visit:

Florida Department of Health COVID-19 Information

CDC General Information

CDC Resources

CDC Community Mitigation Guidance for Coronavirus

WHO General Information

WHO Video: What is the Coronavirus

Writer James Call can be contacted at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee.

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