Coshocton County Health Department adjusting COVID-19 reporting
COSHOCTON — The Coshocton County Health Department is adjusting its case investigation practices in response to the recent high volume of COVID-19 cases.
People who test positive for COVID-19 are asked to isolate and notify those in their households and their close contacts, including co-workers.
The department said its priority continues to be giving newly-diagnosed people guidance on how and why to isolate. They are attempting to contact persons older than 65 and those under the age of 18 directly. However, they may not be able to contact everyone in those groups.
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The department said individuals who test positive may or may not receive a phone call from a contact tracer within two to four days of a positive lab test, and the phone number may not have a 740 area code. Contact tracers will provide isolation information and isolation release date.
Health department staff is also mailing out isolation letters to those who have tested positive. It's possible one will receive a letter after the five-day isolation period has passed. Those who are positive for COVID-19 can be contagious for 10 days.
"With the sheer volume of current and expected cases, we need the public’s help to notify those in their households and their close contacts, including co-workers, of their exposure to a positive COVID-19 case and to let people know of their risk so they can quarantine in a speedy manner," the health department said in a press release. "Those exposed to someone who has tested positive should self-quarantine, watch for symptoms and take a COVID test within five to seven days, sooner if symptoms show up."
As of Wednesday morning, the Ohio Department of Health reported 687 positive cases of COVID-19 in Coshocton County in the last two weeks with 11 hospitalizations and no deaths. A majority, 569, were under the age of 60. A little more than 40% of the county's population, or 14,861 people, have received at least the first dose of vaccine, including more than half of those 50 and older.
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This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Coshocton County Health Department adjusting COVID-19 reporting
