Area doctors continue to offer advice

WEIRTON -- The City of Weirton continued its efforts to bring medical information concerning the ongoing COVID pandemic to the people, Thursday.

“We have a panel that is going to talk to some of the issues and the questions,” City Manager Joe DiBartolomeo said.

The panel was streamed live on the City of Weirton’s Facebook page.

Participating Thursday were Dr. Jasbir Makar, an internal medicine and cardiovascular disease specialist with Weirton Medical Center, and Dr. Kenneth Woods, and infectious disease specialist with Trinity Health System. Dr. Rick Greco, president of physician enterprises and director of medical education at Trinity, served as moderator.

Noting no vaccine has been fully developed and approved for use with humans, Greco said the precautionary measures recommended -- such as social distancing and increased hygiene -- have kept the virus from having a larger impact on the nation.

“That is our vaccine right now,” Greco said.

Makar cited fever, respiratory problems and extreme weakness as among the most prevalant symptoms of COVID-19, explaining they often are more severe.

Woods explained many of the symptoms of COVID are shared with other illnesses, but reinforced the importance of testing in the fight against the virus.

“It’s hard to distinguish based on symptoms alone,” Woods said.

He did say, however, approximately 80 percent of those with COVID will experience a minor illness, and be able to recover at home with little trouble.

The doctors all emphasized that, while vaccines are being developed, including one by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, currently the only option is to treat the symptoms.

“There is no magic cure,” Makar said.

Woods said the vaccines which are in development are undergoing human testing, but it could still take months before they are commercially available. Until then, he continued to stress the importance of social distancing, hand washing, sanitizing and other precautionary measures.

The panel discussion was preceded by presentations from the heads of Weirton’s police, fire, utilities and public works departments, with officials discussing actions taken by the city to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus while continue to provide services to residents.

(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com, and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)