Coronavirus has US hospitals gearing up
Inova Fairfax Hospital is stocking up on gloves, masks and gowns
Even though cases of coronavirus are isolated in the United States, hospitals around the country are gearing up.
When the first case was confirmed outside of China, medical centers like Inova Fairfax Hospital, a part of the Inova Health System in Fairfax, Va., began to collect and stock protective supplies like facial masks, gloves and gowns.
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Dr. Sujata Ambardar, Inova Fairfax Infection Control Committee chair, told FOX Business' Edward Lawrence that the hospital is attempting to avoid any spread of the virus.
Nurses treat a patient in the intensive care unit at Ditan Hospital in Beijing. Feb. 13, 2020. (Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via AP)
"We have rooms, which have something called negative air pressure where we'd protect the patient from everybody else in the facility," she said. "It has a type of airflow that circulates in the room so that the air doesn't go back into the hospital system."
The hospital plans to have in-person, all-department meetings twice a week to better prepare for treating at-risk patients and limiting exposure. Medical professionals at Inova have been pre-fitted for N95 face masks that are air-tight, unlike store-bought masks.
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There are 54 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States as of Feb. 28.