The Vermilion County Health Department has announced important changes to the way area COVID cases will be tracked and reported. County Health Administrator Douglas Toole says effective Thursday, (January 13th) contact tracing will be handled by a statewide Surge Center. The Illinois Department of Public Health formed the Surge Center months ago to assist local health departments that were struggling to keep up with new cases.
Toole says the change will allow local health departments to focus on COVID-19 outbreaks in congregate-living facilities.
‘’The volume of new COVID-19 cases is higher than the staff of our health department – and the staff of most local health departments across the state – can properly manage,’’ said Toole in a news release.
It is extremely difficult to keep up with this large volume of new COVID-19 cases, the release added. If you require your employees, your students, or your daycare children to produce specific letters of release following their COVID-19 isolation periods or COVID-19 exposure quarantine periods, understand that you are placing a hardship on them, said Toole. ‘’We cannot guarantee that employees, students or children in daycare will have a specific letter by the time of their release from isolation or quarantine. If you have the power to allow a return to work, school, or daycare with proof of a positive test and the completion of a five-day isolation period from that test, please do so,’’ added the County Health Department’s statement.
The Health Department is also emphasizing that Vermilion County residents have the tools to reduce severe illnesses from this pandemic, which include vaccinations, boosters, masking, social distancing, hand-washing, disinfecting, testing and staying home when sick. Please take steps to protect yourselves and those around you from severe illnesses, the statement concluded.
In addition…the Vermilion County Health Department announced that those who test positive for COVID-19 should receive a text message from the State, instructing them to call 1-312-777-1999 to be screened by a Surge Center contact tracer, to find out their release date from isolation date, and to have a release letter sent to them. Those who test positive for COVID and who do not receive a text message from the State can still call 1-312-777-1999 to ‘opt-in’ to the system and receive a release date and letter. Those who test positive for COVID-19 and do not call will be considered to have ‘opted-out’ of the contact-tracing process, will have their cases auto-closed after a few days, and will not receive a release letter.
In any event, when a person tests positive for COVID-19 (regardless of vaccination status) – whether they ‘opt-in’ and are screened by a contact tracer, or they ‘opt-out’ and do not call – those living with them and other close contacts may have to quarantine for five days from the last day of contact, and then are released from quarantine on day six. Close contacts tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 90 days, or who received booster shots or who received their second dose of Moderna or Pfizer within the past six months – or a dose of Johnson & Johnson within the past two months, should not have to quarantine – unless they start to develop COVID-19 like symptoms.
People should not leave isolation if they are still experiencing strong COVID-19 symptoms – fever, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, difficulty staying awake, or uncontrollable coughing – but can leave isolation after five days if their symptoms have resolved, or only minor symptoms remain – mild fatigue, occasional dry coughing, or loss of senses of taste or smell.
