Top Doctor Answers Greater Danbury’s Questions About COVID-19

Dr. Rajeev Fernando has been recognized as one of America's top doctors in New York for the specialty of Infectious Disease since 2014. He is an accomplished doctor, with a generous heart and compassion for making this world a better place.

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation this week:

Our first question came from Carol in Dover Plains who wanted to know if we may see another wave of the virus, and how bad could it be?

"I think Connecticut is doing a wonderful job, the only reason you'll see a second wave is really up to the different communities. Cases have been cut down, the only way we can experience a second wave is if people break the rules, no masks, no social distancing, not following all recommendations. We have to stay the course for another few months, it's really dependent on us. If there is a second wave it will probably be worse because the health care workers have been on the front lines for months without sleep, and we're seeing a lot of psychiatric problems, a lot of PTSD, depression and anxiety. The mind will be willing to function, but the flesh will definitely be weaker".

Rich in Bethel knows someone who got a negative test result recently, and wants to know if there are a lot of false negatives, or for that matter a lot of false positives with the current testing.

"It depends on the test. Initially our testing was just basically wacked. We didn't have proper testing, there was poor sensitivities, we couldn't always believe the results. I always teach my students and residents if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it's a duck. Now two months into the pandemic we are on top of our testing, and the only way you would get a false reading is if the person doing the test didn't do it the proper way".

Barbara in New Fairfield is worried that her family could get the virus from mail or packages that come to her house. Is this a possibility? 

"The data so far that we have tells us that the virus can stay on cardboard surfaces for about 72 hours, it can stay on plastic and metals for about 24 hours. The best thing to do is sanitize it with Clorox wipes and be generous. The wipes kill about 99.5% of all bacteria, so if you wipe down the mail and packages before you bring them inside, you should be in good shape".

Special Bonus Question: What do you know about this mysterious inflammatory syndrome in children, is this COVID-19 related?

"This is a brilliant syndrome, and is another mysterious puzzle of COVID-19. It resembles a disease called Kawasaki disease which tends to cause inflammation in the medium size arteries in children, now out of the blue we have this syndrome in America and we're seeing more and more children affected. We don't know much about it, I've consulted with many other doctors and pediatricians, and we are all kind of stumped. The puzzling thing is that it just came out of nowhere, we have had the COVID-19 virus on our shores for more then two months, but why did this pop out of nowhere. Unfortunately the virus is still ahead of us right now, so that's why we have to keep doing what we have been doing and follow all the recommendations like wearing masks, and social distancing".

Every Thursday morning at 7:10, 7:20, and 7:50, and also again at 8:10, 8:20, and 8:50 Dr. Fernando joins Mr. Morning on KICKS 105.5 to answer your questions about the coronavirus and how it pertains to the Greater Danbury area.

If you have a question you would like answered, just send a chat message through your KICKS 105.5 mobile app or call Mr. Morning at 1-877-303-1055.