Jefferson County has seen significant increase in COVID-19 cases and remains in the highest alert status of red with the seven-day rolling average of cases at 95.05 per day/per 100,000 residents. Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) staff, along with additional support from Maximus, cannot sustain their current response protocols. JCHD receives on average 200 new COVID positive cases per day and has hit peaks of over 330 cases in a day this past week. The agency has responded by contracting for additional case investigators through their recently acquired partner Maximus, but the recent surge in community cases has already exceeded the increased staffing. This has resulted in over 3,000 community cases that have had delayed initial case investigation or follow up. Contact tracing has been focused solely on the state mandated youth cases of 3-19 years and long-term care facilities as a result.
In an effort to reach all new incoming COVID-19 cases in a timely manner, JCHD is adapting its agency protocols for release from isolation and quarantine. Starting Friday, November 20th, JCHD will no longer provide a follow up phone call and release letter at the end of the 10 day isolation or 14 day quarantine period. The protocol for release was a communicable disease procedural best practice adopted by JCHD at the onset of the pandemic to ensure communication throughout the entire case cycle. The individualized release procedure is unobtainable at the substantial level of community spread currently experienced in our county. JCHD staff will continue to work with long term care facility medical leaders to monitor and release staff back into their closed environments.
“At this time, our priority is ensuring timely notification of all new case for investigations and contact tracing,” states Preparedness Coordinator, Jeana Vidacak. “By eliminating the time our staff dedicate to creating release letters, making follow up phone calls, and sending release emails, we will gain back valuable time to help us get caught up on the backlog of cases we have.”
Jefferson County Health Department will continue to follow CDC guidance for isolation and quarantine.
· A person on isolation has received a positive PCR or Antigen test or has had direct contact to a positive and is now symptomatic.
o To discontinue isolation, the person must be fever free for at least 24 hours, have had a significant improvement in symptoms and have passed at least 10 days from the start of symptoms.
o For those with more severe illness, the isolation period could go up to 20 days. Please consult a healthcare professional if you still experiencing significant symptoms past day 10.
o For individuals who have not experienced symptoms, isolation will be for 10 days from the date the test was collected.
o Employers: A positive lab report supports the need to isolate or quarantine if the case is within the household
· A person on quarantine is someone that has had direct contact with a positive COVID-19 case. Quarantine should last 14 full days from the last date of exposure. If the individual does not become symptomatic, they can discontinue quarantine after the 14th day.
o Exposure counts as day zero. Example: if you were around a positive case on Monday, you will start your 14-day period on Tuesday.
o Living in a household with a positive case increases your likelihood of transmission. It is extremely important to isolate and quarantine away from individuals within a household. This means separate living conditions (bedrooms and bathrooms when possible), wearing masks when you must be in the same space (limiting this as much as possible) and practicing good hygiene and disinfecting.
o Anyone on quarantine that becomes symptomatic is considered a case. They should isolate for 10 days from symptom onset.
o Employers: Continue to monitor the health of staff especially upon return from quarantine.
JCHD staff will provide education to individuals they interview. “There are still many positive cases we have yet to interview or that refuse to identify close contacts,” states Vidacak. “Many cases prefer to communicate directly with their contacts. There are individuals that have been exposed and need to quarantine but may not have official documentation. We are relying on the community to work with each other to follow quarantine guidelines.”
Full guidance on how to properly isolate and/or quarantine is on the Jefferson County Health Department website www.jeffcohealth.org and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/end-home-isolation.html. Guidance will continue to be updated on their website and social media accounts. JCHD encourages residents and business community to review often.
