Have questions about Lyon County’s coronavirus testing policy? You aren’t alone, even with the pandemic now eight months old.
Two big questions for Lyon County Public Health since the pandemic started eight months ago have been when close contacts should tested, based on exposure, and whether close contacts of close contacts should automatically go into quarantine. When it comes to test timing, Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern says Public Health tests symptomatic patients, regardless of how mild the symptoms may be, and it also tests close contacts — but they should wait several days before getting tested, mainly as an effort to reduce false negatives or false positives.
Lyon County asks close contacts of confirmed patients to quarantine, but it does not ask close contacts of close contacts to quarantine — and that has to do with state law as opposed to known virus spread. Millbern says at least 65 percent of COVID spread happens when patients aren’t showing symptoms and the disease spreads easily in family settings.
The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says close contacts are people who:
*Were within six feet of someone with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes
*Provided care at home for a confirmed COVID-19 patient
*Had any direct contact with a confirmed patient, either by hugging or kissing
*Shared eating or drinking utensils
*Got coughed or sneezed on by a confirmed patient
Millbern also reminds residents isolation is for people who have contracted the virus and quarantine is for people who have been exposed to those with the illness. Modified quarantine is for essential workers like healthcare workers, first responders, firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency dispatchers. These workers can continue their jobs but they also have to wear special personal protective equipment and get extra tests for COVID-19.
Lyon County nearly doubled its total coronavirus numbers in just under a month and the active caseload went past 730 at one point before falling. Total cases are now at 2,337, with active cases at 590. Millbern says there will be some short-term “data flux” as new cases are investigated and those investigations resolve.
