Dubois County Health Department Discusses CDC Revisions to COVID-19 Guidelines

FROM LOCAL SOURCES

JASPER -- The Dubois County Health Department has released new information regarding people deemed a close contact to a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The changes reflect new guidelines released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

YOU CAN READ THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S FULL STATEMENT BELOW.....

CDC updated quarantine guidance on 12/2/2020 for people who are deemed a close contact to a positive COVID-19 person. There are now three options for a quarantine period for close contacts.

  • Quarantine would end after day 14 if the person has not developed any symptoms. This is the ideal quarantine to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and recommended for those who work with high risk population or for those who can work remotely.
  • Quarantine could end after Day 10 if the person has not had a COVID 19 test and has not developed any symptoms. (see * below)
  • Quarantine could end after Day 7 if the person tested negative for COVID-19 on day 5, 6, or 7 and has not developed any symptoms. (see * below)

*The 2nd and 3rd alternative options require that the person adhere to strict practices of masking, physical distancing, hand washing and watching for symptoms through day 14. Further information can be found at this link:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-options-to-reduce-quarantine.html

If any of these practices cannot be followed while preforming an activity, then that specific activity may not resume until after day 14.

We are asking the public and all employers to follow these quarantine guidelines and we support your decision regarding which quarantine option(s) you decide to enact to help protect our community.

There is no guidance change for a positive person. They continue with the 10-day isolation from symptom onset or 10-day isolation from the positive test date if they did not have any symptoms.

Testing options in Dubois County include:

Dubois/Spencer/Martin County COVID Testing Site is open Tuesday through Saturday. Schedule an appt at https://scheduling.coronavirus.in.gov/ Getting your test results could take several days due to the overwhelming demand at the state laboratories. The state continues to work on decreasing this wait time for these test results. Once the samples leave our testing site, it is beyond our control when they are processed, so please be patient. There is no charge for testing at this county site.

MHHCC will also do testing but you must be symptomatic and have a doctor’s order. Please contact your health care provider for more information.

Please visit https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/2524.htm for testing options outside of Dubois County.