While concerns over coronavirus rise, health experts say the flu is a bigger concern for Minnesota
Human coronavirus causes respiratory infections and gastroenteritis. Image produced using high-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) from an image taken with transmission electron microscopy. Viral diameter around 80-160 nm. (Photo by: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(FOX 9) - More flu deaths in Minnesota have state health officials on alert as they try to determine if influenza has peaked in the state or a new wave of the deadly virus is about to hit.
But, the concern comes as precautions are simultaneously being taken to monitor any new symptoms of coronavirus in Minnesota with MSP Airport is added to the list to start screening any at-risk passengers.
The images coming out of China are alarming: Medical providers dressed in head-to-toe hazmat gear and people quarantined as cities across the country are literally shutting down.
In China, the latest numbers show at least 132 people have died from the coronavirus. In the United States, so far no deaths have been reported and only five cases of the disease have been confirmed.
"It’s normal to have some kind of level of fear for something you don’t know very well but I think it’s important to put it in context as well," said Kris Ehresmann of the Minnesota Department of Health.
Ehresmann, the infectious disease director for the state health department, says while department officials are pro-actively engaging with healthcare facilities and taking in calls from concerned residents about potential symptoms, there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Minnesota.
Although the flu and coronavirus can exhibit similar upper respiratory symptoms, catching the flu is a much more likely scenario unless you have traveled to China.
“We’ve had 36 deaths in Minnesota from influenza this season," explained Ehresmann. "So if you compare that, we are just one state and all of China with coronavirus has had 132 deaths and we have had 36 [flu] deaths in Minnesota so I think it’s important to put things in perspective.”
Also, for more perspective, other notable worldwide epidemics like SARS killed 775 people and 616 people died from Avian flu. You can compare that to the worst flu pandemic in 2009, dubbed the swine flu, when 203,000 people died.