Coronavirus image via the Centers for Disease Control

How well would the Valley handle a potential onset of COVID-19, aka the coronavirus? It’s hard to tell.

However, a recent report put out by Zippia, a career consulting site, Californians as a whole may have reason to be concerned. Last week, the site released a list of the top 10 least prepared states for a pandemic. Sitting at No. 5 was California.

“California is a great place to be healthy, with beautiful beaches and exciting cities filled with opportunity,” wrote Kathy Morris, the articles’ author. “However, it’s not a great place to be sick.”

Morris added that while Californians are more likely to have health insurance, there’s an average of 108,725 people per hospital. The state also has a vaccination rate of 80.9%. Further complications may arise in densely populated cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In the Central Valley, COVID-19 worries have made their way into the public, but it may be too soon to tell the impact it will have on the region. This weekend, there was a scare that a patient at Adventist Health Tulare was in isolation after showing possible symptoms. Fortunately, however, tests later came back negative.

Meanwhile, Madera County is taking precautions of its own. On March 1, it was reported by Sierra News Online that its public health department was monitoring the disease with an online tracker.

“The Madera County Department of Public Health is closely tracking the progress of COVID-19,” the site said. “Plans are in place to protect residents, limit exposure and address concerns as they arise.”

Thus far, there have been no reported cases locally.