Coronavirus impact: Contra Costa County takes precautions against COVID-19 despite no cases

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- Working out tends to be a hands-on activity, but rather than taking a day off, many members at Walnut Creek's Forma Gym are pushing ahead with some common sense precautions in place.

"You have to live your life...you have to keep going," explained Forma's Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rajs, who explained gym management is stepping up cleaning protocols, like disinfecting railings and equipment often to protect members from coronavirus.

"Awareness is one thing. We're just making people aware of the additional things we're doing to help them," said Rajs. "Additional hand sanitizer and we stepped up with our housekeeping staff to really look at touch points around the club," she said.

School is another hands-on activity, but at Moraga's Saklan School, the administration is going well beyond the usual hand-washing by planning for the possibility that classes and some events may have to be canceled, at least temporarily.

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"One of the things we're thinking about is how we continue... like teaching going on if the kids have to stay home for a while so we're entertaining all sorts of ideas," said Saklan Principal David O'Connell.

"One of them is the traditional teachers would communicate via email and then there's an application we're looking at. It's called OutSchool," he said.

The program allows students as young as kindergarten to take their classes online.

So far, Contra Costa has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus that have originated in the county, but health officials remind the community the situation could get worse before it gets better.

"If we begin to see widespread community transmission, we kind of go back to typical flu recommendations," said Dan Peddycord, Contra Costa County's Public Health Director. "Which is if you're ill, stay home. If you see a student or faculty member that's ill, ask them to go home. Before you see your doctor, particularly with coronavirus, you want to call ahead for instructions."

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