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Local emergency service officials are advising people not to go to the hospital or doctor’s office just because they might be coughing or sneezing.

First of all, learn to recognize the symptoms of COVID-19 that include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. The CDC believes that symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure. This is based on what has been seen previously as the incubation period of MERS-CoV viruses.

Furthermore, Natchez-Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said a physician should check people if they have a temperature of 100.4 or greater that does not respond to over-the-counter fever medications such as Tylenol.

To complicate matters, we also are in the midst of the flu and allergy season so people could exhibit symptoms from those conditions that mimic symptoms of COVID-19 but the telltale sign of COVID-19 is the persistent 100.4 or greater fever.

If you have those symptoms and believe you have been exposed, Bradford advises that you call 911, whose workers will ask callers a series of questions. If the caller is suspected to have been exposed to COVID-19 an AMR ambulance that is fully equipped will be dispensed to take the individual to the proper location for testing and examination.

So far no confirmed cases of COVID-19 have come out of Adams County. We hope it stays that way but we urge people to be mindful of the proper procedures and hopefully we can keep from overtaxing our healthcare providers.