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-Information courtesy Granville County Government and Lisa Harrison
The local, Granville-Vance Public Health Director, Lisa Harrison, attended a White House Briefing this week about the Coronavirus.
On Tuesday, February 25, 2020, Harrison joined representatives from more than 30 states and territories for a federal/state/local discussion about Coronavirus. The point was for communities to be prepared.
Pictured (left to right) are Pramod Dwivedi, MS, MSW, MA, BSc, Linn County Public Health in Iowa; Jennifer Kertanis, MPH, President-elect of NACCHO and the Farmington Valley Health District, Connecticut; Lisa Macon Harrison, MPH, Granville Vance Public Health Director, North Carolina; and George Roberts, Jr., MHA, FACHE, President of NACCHO Northeast, Texas Public Health District, Texas. (Photo courtesy Granville Co. Govt.)
Harrison told WIZS News her biggest takeaway from the briefing is that all levels of government are working together to update, communicate and respond. She said, “Local, state and federal levels are committed to ensuring the public health and safety is the best it can be. We have an important job of communicating clearly and well during this time in a way that’s appropriate to this new virus and its risk, but that doesn’t land with people in a way that makes them panic anymore.”
Of course, it is flu season too, and Harrison said, “The flu virus is much more deadly and common in the U.S., and I find it interesting to balance people’s perception of risk with this new virus versus how people continue to shrug their shoulders and deny the flu vaccine.”
The NC Division of Public Health has a helpful web site (https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/COVID19.html) and a phone number people can call if they have questions.
Harrison added, “I need to stress that there are currently, as of today, no cases of novel coronavirus cases in NC. Nobody needs to get a mask or worry unnecessarily at this point. We do suspect we will have a case in the future and are hopeful that like every other place in the US, the virus will be mild and people will recover fully.”
A 24-hour, main phone number for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is (919) 733-3419.
A Granville County Government press release said that in her role as regional representative/Board member for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Harrison was one of approximately 40 state, county and city health officials invited to attend and participate in this briefing, which also acknowledged the leadership roles of state and local health officials in meeting community needs.