State changes tack on contact tracing efforts
Surge in virus cases forces Va. to prioritze key populations
Virginia public health officials say that because coronavirus transmission levels have recently risen so high, they’ll likely have to scale back who they’ll contact following known cases of the coronavirus.
The Virginia Department of Health announced it has changed its guidelines, consistent with new recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to prioritize contact-tracing efforts for key segments of the population.
That means they might not be able to reach all Virginians who have been recently exposed to an individual with COVID-19.
And if you get infected, well, you might have to make some of those calls yourself.
As of Monday, there had been 226,426 confirmed cases of the disease and 4,208 suspected deaths in the state during the pandemic. Standard nasal swab tests are now coming back positive 10.8%, a dramatic increase from the 5.4% reported about one month ago.
Contact tracers are public health employees who work as disease detectives. Their task is to interview people who have recently tested positive for an illness and determine with whom they’ve recently come in contact. Then, they provide advice to those people on how to avoid spreading the virus to others.
Their goal is to follow up on all cases within 24 hours of diagnosis. As of Monday, only about 71% have been contacted for the past week, according to the health depart
ment.
Public health officials said nearly 2,000 contact tracers and investigators have been hired since May to help curb the pandemic. But when the number of cases reaches substantial levels such as they are now, local health departments have to prioritize their time to talk to the people most at risk.
The new guidelines focus on people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past six days and the people living in their households. They also prioritize people living or working in congregate living facilities such as nursing homes and prisons; people associated with
clusters or outbreaks; and individuals who have compromised immune systems or are considered to be especially vulnerable to serious illness.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver said in a statement the change will allow Virginia to deploy resources where they will have the most impact.
“We urge residents to continue to follow public health guidance on wearing masks and physical distancing,” he said.
The commissioner is also asking people who know they have the virus to do their part in telling their circle of friends and family quickly.
Don’t know how to start that conversation?
You can borrow a script from the health department that goes something like this:
“Hi. I have been diagnosed with COVID-19 (or coronavirus). I’m reaching out because when we last met, you may have been exposed ...”
A health department tip sheet, at https://tinyurl.com/contacttracingtips, even provides step-by-step instructions on how to do your own contact tracing and prevent the spread.
If you test positive for COVID-19, public health officials ask that you stay home and away from others for at least 10 days. You should also tell people who could have been exposed while you were contagious.
If you learn from an infected person you could have been exposed, stay home and away from others, get tested for COVID-19 about five to seven days after exposure and watch for any symptoms.
Experts say the safest rule of thumb is a quarantine lasting 14 days. But the CDC also has new advice for shorter durations for different circumstances.
Those options include allowing people without symptoms to end quarantine after Day 10 without any testing; after Day 7 with a negative nasal swab test; or after a negative rapid antigen test performed on or after Day 5.
State health officials said they adopted the new quarantine policy for everyone except health care workers and people in health care facilities, who should continue to use a 14-day quarantine.