Self Isolate and Contact Tracing

It has been JCCHS’ goal to contact positive cases within 24 hours of test results. However, due to the time it takes public health nurses to investigate each new case; and the delay in receiving test results from the labs or the state, it may be several days before a positive case can be contacted by JCCHS. This delay can cause more people to be exposed.

JCCHS reminds community members of the following:

• It can take five to seven days before JCCHS receives the positive results from the lab or state;
• JCCHS might not receive all positive test results;
• not all lab results have the correct personal or contact information to allow for the most accurate contact tracing; and
• Due to the increase of positive cases and reporting delay, it could be several days before public health nurses contact those who test positive.

What can you do to help expedite the process?

It is imperative to get past the barriers of traditional contact tracing, and mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19, especially if there is a potential delay in JCCHS receiving test results.

If you get a call from your doctor with a positive test result, you can take immediate action to slow the spread of the virus within your friends, family and coworkers by notifying close contacts of a potential exposure. Taking proactive actions will expedite the process to allow others to begin quarantine.

Please do not wait for a phone call from the health department before identifying and contacting your close contacts. This could eliminate the wait time and hopefully, stop people from unknowingly spreading the virus.

Who is considered a close contact?

 A close contact is anyone who was within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more, with or without a face covering, 48 hours before onset of symptoms. If no symptoms were present, then 48 hours before test date.