Coronavirus: Separating the facts from fear
With the coronavirus surging in our area, one of your best defenses is knowing the truth. News 25’s Lorraine Weiskopf spoke with Singing River Health System to see how they’re advising the public on COVID-19.
Singing River Health System CEO Lee Bond said, “We decided early on that there are a lot of fears out there and misnomers and mistruths, so we started a little segment called ‘Facts, not Fears.’
‘Facts, not Fears’ is a public forum addressing common questions or concerns about the virus. Singing River Health Care infection prevention specialists and infectious diseases specialists worked on the forum. It covers serious questions such as ‘are our hospitals running out of ICU beds?’ SRHS Media Relations Director Sarah Duffey said “We have 55 ICU, 29 here in Pascagoula in the hospital and we have almost 400 license beds, regular beds here. In Ocean Springs, we have close to 140, so right now we’re pretty good when it comes to hospital beds.”
They also get some lighthearted questions like ‘a common way to get COVID-19 is from drinking a Corona beer.’ “You’re probably not going to get it from drinking a Corona unless you share your beer. In that case, you’ll probably get it.”
“We kind of threw that one in there to make people laugh and not think about all the gloom and doom.”
For more reliable answers regarding the virus, check out Singing River Health’s website or Facebook page. “The scary questions that the world’s going to end or that we need to buy all the supplies because we’re not going to have access to it later. We’re trying to get people to calm down and that the facts are bigger than the fear.”
Singing River Health System is hosting a free drive-thru COVID testing event Friday, July 31st from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Gulfport Medical Center.
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