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COVID-19 tracking explained to Richardson County Health Board

By John Nixon

06/01/2020

(KLZA)-- During last week's meeting of the Richardson County Health Board, Southeast District Health Department Director Grant Brueggemann was asked about his agencies reporting on confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Like other communicable diseases or patient information, no identifying characteristics are discussed.

Brueggemann said there are reasons for not reporting which community in a county the confirmed case is in. Communities under a certain population would make it too easy to identify who the person is if reported by city.

Brueggemann says his agency waits until they receive confirmation of a COVID case before they begin tracking, or alerting close contacts to the patient so the investigation can be tied together.

What occurs during contact tracing was also explained to the Health Board members. A history of where the patient has been, and who they have been in contact with for about three days prior to symptom onset is gathered. Once the contacts are identified, they receive a phone call from the Southeast District Health Department alerting them they may have been exposed and should quarentine.

Brueggemann also noted that if an area resident was tested for coronavirus in a different area of the state, or even a different state, the local health district would be notified of the positive test.

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