Exposure: What to do if you suspect you’ve come into contact with virus
As more cases of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, are confirmed in Michigan and around the country, the focus has turned to testing and indentifying the scope of the outbreak.
Many people may find themselves wondering what to do if they believe they have been exposed to the virus or already sickened with it. Here’s a quick run-down of what to do and how the testing process works.
Q
: What should I do if I think I’ve been exposed to the COVID-19 virus?
A : Health experts agree.
• Self-isolate from others at home;
• Disinfect high-touch surfaces;
• Monitor your symptoms and seek medical attention if symptoms develop. According to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention those may include mild symptoms such as fever, runny nose, sore throat and a dry cough, and in more severe cases difficulty breathing;
• Call ahead before visiting your health care provider, making sure to tell them you may have been exposed to COVID-19. They may have special procedures for examining potential exposure cases;
• Ask your doctor to take a specimen sample and call the local or state health department.
Q : What are the criteria used to determine who is tested and who is not?
A : According to CDC protocol, health care professionals should use their judgment to determine if a patient has signs and symptoms
of COVID-19. Priorities for testing may include hospital patients who have signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19, symptomatic people like older adults and those with chronic illnesses and anyone who, within 14 days of symptom onset, had had close contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient.
Q : Who provides testing in Michigan?
A : The state Department of Health and Human Services’ lab in Lansing is the only statelevel facility currently approved for COVID-19 testing.
Q : Are there enough kits to test everyone who needs one?
A : The state lab can process about 1,300 individual tests at this time. The state health department is ordering additional test kits. Local health departments cannot provide testing. According to
MDHHS, several private labs will soon be providing COVID-19 testing, including Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. According to the Washington Post, federal officials were meeting Friday with representatives from such providers as Walgreens, Walmart and CVS to discuss setting up national drivethrough testing sites similar to those in South Korea - a country with a huge COVID-19 outbreak. Such sites have already been set up by health departments in Colorado, New York and soon in Connecticut and Hawaii to speed up testing. The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has set up a drive-through testing site.
Q : How long does testing take?
A : After the health care provider collects the specimens, (usually samples collected from the nose or throat,) the specimens are sent to either the state lab in Lansing or a private lab capable of providing COVID-19 testing. Specimens are transported to the state lab by a courier or delivery services, such as UPS. So far, the state lab has been providing results the same day the sample is received at the lab. However, the state health department does not control the time between when the specimen is obtained from the patient and when it is received by the lab, said Lynn Sutfin, public information officer for MDHHS. Once at the lab, technicians use a procedure called RT-PCR to test for possible coronavirus. The test allows technicians to see whether a certain genetic sequence is present in a sample, given that every virus has a unique genetic code. Q : What happens if there is a positive test result? A : There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19. If you test positive for the virus, there is a chance that symptoms could go away on their own. If you have mild symptoms, stay home until you recover. If you develop more severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, seek medical care. In Oakland County, the health department will monitor confirmed cases closely during the quarantine period.