To Our SOFT Family:
You likely know by now that the 2020 SOFT Conference will be postponed until July 2021 due to concerns for our health related to the coronavirus. While updates on COVID-19 (coronavirus illness) pandemic are publicized on the TV news regularly and are widely available online, the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of SOFT considered it timely and important to provide some added guidance in this time of stress and worry.
You may have read that children are less affected and run a milder course of COVID-19; however we would consider children and adults with trisomy 13, 18, and related disorders to fall under the category of chronic underlying condition and be at more risk than others for serious illness.
The guidelines for protecting yourself and your family members are posted locally and nationally wherever you turn, but they are worth listing. The link to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) below gives more detail regarding these guidelines and addresses other relevant questions.
Everyone is encouraged to:
- Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds regularly
- Avoid touching eyes, nose, or mouth
- Regularly clean and disinfect surfaces
- Avoid close contact and handshaking
- Practice social distancing and limit exposure to groups of more than 10 persons
- Avoid travelling by air and postpone out of town trips and vacations
- Stay home if ill
Go to the Prevention & Treatment and Symptoms sections from the CDC home page. The site below provides information about pregnancy and breast feeding mothers:
https://mothertobaby.org/fact-
Contact your doctor or primary health care provider about testing if you or a family member have the symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Local health departments are also posting guidance for testing and care.
Be well!
The SOFT Medical and Scientific Advisory Board
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