Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s Public Health Officer, announced in a video published Monday that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Dr. Willis is the county’s 39th diagnosed COVID-19 case.
“I did not necessarily think that I would be such an early example of the fact that this is in our community,” Dr. Willis says during the video, before urging county residents to obey the county’s shelter-in-place order in hopes of reducing the spread of the virus.
“Stay in place, shelter at home, and limit anything outside the home to only essential trips,” Dr. Willis says. “Because we’re seeing signs of our responders being exposed and pulled away from duty, we need to double down on our efforts to limit countywide exposures. You can help us lessen the burden on our healthcare system by simply slowing the rate of spread. That we do have some control over.”
Dr. Willis’ source of exposure is unknown. He has been actively meeting with health care workers around the Bay Area as part of his work to coordinate Marin County’s response to COVID-19.
Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. Lisa Santora will lead Marin County’s response to COVID-19 while Willis is recovering from the virus.
Willis’s full video address is available below.
My condolences to Dr. Willis and wishes for a speedy recovery. It does look like the virus is impacting his lungs, from the way he was speaking, so he must be cautious about developing pneumonia, seen in 40% of the milder cases. I have a lung disorder and believe I see that he was breathing the way I do when my lungs are inflamed. I am the administrator of “Stop Coronavirus USA” on FB and have scoured the world for the best information on COVID-19, which we are NOT getting yet from the CDC.
VERY IMPORTANT. The CDC is INCORRECT (as they often are) when it comes to when Dr. Willis can go back to work. It is not three days after no symptoms.
Dr. David Ho, a virologist from Colombia University, trustee at Cal-tech, and expert on pandemics says the time period can be up to three weeks after symptoms disappear. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/tip-iceberg-virologist-david-ho-bs-74-speaks-about-covid-19
“What in particular makes this virus so dangerous?
What is disturbing is that virus shedding, as detected in the mouth or nose, is very, very common and could be there prior to onset of symptoms. That’s why transmission could occur from asymptomatic individuals. And virus shedding could continue for days up to three weeks after a person recovers. ”
This is one example of how CDC is trying to save on tests, playing politics, and setting up contagious people to infect others – their advice is wrong. Dr. Willis’s statement is going viral and misleading millions now.