Don’t wait for COVID contact tracer before quarantining, SLO County officials urge
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is asking for people to isolate if they think they have been exposed to coronavirus, rather than waiting for quarantine directions from a contact tracer.
“Don’t wait to isolate,” county Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said in a news release Friday. “Our contact tracers are trying to keep up with the local surge in cases but may not be able to call you immediately. We need your help.”
The health department is working to contact all active COVID-19 cases and their close contacts, but resources are stretched thin amid the recent surge in positive coronavirus cases, according to the news release.
On Friday, the county reported 191 new COVID-19 cases.
The county is asking people to immediately self-isolate for 10 days if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. Being in “close contact” involves being within 6 feet or closer for 15 minutes or more.
If you test positive for coronavirus, you should also immediately self-quarantine.
In either case, don’t wait for a contact tracer to call, according to the release. You should stay home except to seek medical care and separate yourself as much as possible from other members of your household.
When quarantine or isolation is complete, you can self-certify online to be released rather than calling the county Public Health Department, the release said.
For people whose employers that require documentation showing that an employee has been released from isolation or quarantine, the county provides an interactive online form. After completing the interactive online form, you will receive official documentation that you’ve been released from isolation or quarantine, the release said.
This option is not available for those who work or live at a board-and-care facility — such as a skilled nursing facility or residential care facility — or those who are immuno-compromised.
The county Public Health Department will instead directly call to release anyone who falls into one of those categories.
For more information, visit www.ReadySLO.org or call the recorded Public Health Information Line at 805-788-2903.
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