“Know that you generally need to be in close contact with someone with COVID-19 to get infected,” is the reassuring guidance from the state of Washington’s Department of Public Health website. “Close contact includes scenarios like living with or caring for a person with confirmed COVID-19, being within six feet of a person with confirmed COVID-19 for longer than 15 minutes total in a day, or if someone with COVID-19 coughed on you, kissed you, shared utensils with you or you had direct contact with their secretions.”
The website goes on to describe two possible scenarios:
1. If you have had close contact with a person with COVID-19 but are not sick. In this case, they recommend that you:
- Contact your health care provider to discuss testing for COVID-19.
- Do not go to school or work. How long should you quarantine, or avoid public places? The guidance from CDC has just changed: the new guidance says 7 days from the time of exposure if you test negative for COVID-19 at 7 days; 10 days from the date of exposure without a test.
- Continue to monitor yourself for fever, cough and shortness of breath for 14 days after your last contact with the ill person. If symptoms develop, whether or not you have had a negative test for COVID-19, you should contact your provider immediately.
My editorial comment here: What does avoiding public places mean? It means: do not go out and about for groceries, or go to the gas station or to the pharmacy. You should stay away from the public. Why stay away from the public–also known as “quarantine”– for two weeks? The incubation period for COVID is typically between 3-9 days, so the CDC has chosen two weeks as a reasonable period of time to ensure that you aren’t going to develop infection.
2. If you are a close contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19 and are sick
- If you are sick with fever, cough, or shortness of breath, even if your symptoms are mild, isolate yourself.
- Call your healthcare provider to discuss getting tested. This is especially important if you are at higher risk for severe illness. These risk factors include: age over 60 years old, underlying health conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, or diabetes, a weakened immune system or pregnancy.
- See recommendations here for what to do if you think you have COVID-19.
The Community Tracing Collaborative: Contact Tracing in Massachusetts
In an attempt to limit community transmission in Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health here is tracking all COVID infections using something called CONTACT TRACING. Anyone who tests positive is encouraged to let their recent contacts know so they can be tested. If you have been in close contact (again–this is defined as being within 6 feet of someone without face mask protection for more than 10-15 minutes) with someone who has tested positive for COVID, then the Massachusetts DPH is advising that you be tested.
You may also be called and informed that you have had contact with someone who developed COVID without knowing it.
According to the Massachusetts DPH website, if you receive a phone call from the prefix 833 and 857, please answer! This is the COVID team calling you, and your phone will say the call is from “MA COVID Team.” Someone from the Contact Tracing team will let you know that you have been exposed to someone with COVID and will recommend that you seek testing.
This is an incredibly important part of limiting community spread of this coronavirus infection. It is being run by DPH in collaboration with Partners in Health, a highly regarded group whose mission is to increase access to healthcare worldwide. The information that you share with them will be treated as strictly confidential. They will also be a great source of information for what you should do.
It has been shown that COVID-19 can be transmitted from persons who are asymptomatic. Due to this so-called asymptomatic transmission, those who have been exposed to a person with known COVID-19–even two days before they had a positive test for the virus–should be tested, according to Dr. Katie Brown, one of the leaders of the Massachusetts DPH COVID team.
More from the Washington DPH website on this topic–just because I think they do a great job of covering it:
What to do if you have COVID-19 symptoms but haven’t been around anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19
- The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. These can be symptoms of other respiratory illnesses as well as COVID-19.
- See recommendations here for what to do if you think you have COVID:
- If you are in a high-risk category, and have symptoms of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider for advice. If you are at risk for serious illness, your healthcare provider will likely arrange a test for COVID-19.
- If you do not have a high risk condition and your symptoms are mild, contact your healthcare provider to discuss being tested for COVID-19. Do not go out when you are sick, practice excellent hygiene, and wear a face mask when you are around other people if you can.
- Cover coughs and sneezes. Avoid sharing personal household items. Clean your hands often. Clean all “high-touch” surfaces like doorknobs often.
- Monitor your symptoms and call your healthcare provider if symptoms worsen.
What is the difference between quarantine and isolation?
This from the Massachusetts Medical Society website: “Isolation refers to the separation of sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick. Quarantine refers to the separation of asymptomatic people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become ill. People who are have symptoms or are sick with possible or confirmed COVID-19 need to self-isolate at home,”
Medical Disclaimer: The suggestions given here are not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of your physician. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. For additional questions, please call your healthcare provider for reliable, up-to-date information on testing, symptom management and transmission of COVID-19.
For more information
What Should You Do if You Think You Have Covid?
How Should I Care for COVID Infection at Home?
CDC recommendations on what to do if you are exposed to a person with COVID
Massachusetts recommendations on what to do if you are exposed to a person with COVID:
For more information on the Community Tracing Collaborative: Contact Tracing in Massachusetts.
A good resource on who should be tested in Massachusetts.
Photo credit: photo by Emile Guillemot, from Unsplash.com
