A MESSAGE FROM YOUR COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
So, what is going on in Gulf County?
Over the past two weeks, positive cases decreased by 31 cases. That’s a good direction to be heading! At the same time, the total tests in Gulf went down, which is why you do not see a dramatic decrease. A lot of counties around the state have decreased in overall testing. Our goal is to test at minimum 2% of the population each month to align with the reopening phases. Please continue to look at the county profile report to look at different data trends.
Contact Tracing only works if the health department is provided the complete list of close contacts.
We are trying to interrupt the spread of the disease. Please be honest about the people you’ve been in close contact with, which is less than 6 feet for 15 minutes or more. If you are identified as a positive case, the health department will work closely with you and help reach out to anyone you were in close contact with during your infection period. Why is this so important? Close contacts need to be able to quarantine so that the spread of the virus stops. Your personal information is kept completely confidential. When someone finds out they need to quarantine, all they hear is “you’ve been identified as a close contact to a positive case.” From there, we provide quarantine guidance to follow and help answer questions about the virus. So please be honest about this very important measure to stop the spread of COVID19
Schools and Health Department Partnership
The health department works very closely with the school district to respond to infectious disease investigations every school year. In the event of a COVID19 investigation involving schools, public health officials will work quickly to identify COVID19 positive individuals and close contacts to help interrupt the spread of the disease. These individuals will remain at home until cleared by public health officials. Your health department clinic, school health team (also public health employees), and school district staff communicate constantly throughout the day. In order to protect the privacy of any individual(s) under investigation and any potential contacts, we will refrain from sharing personal details on cases. If your child becomes part of an investigation, you will be notified by the health department clinical team. If you have any questions about how investigations work or about COVID19, please contact the Florida Department of Health. Gulf: 850-227-1276, Franklin: 850-653-2111.
Important Reminder to Parents:
1. If your child or any member of your household are currently waiting on COVID19 test results for active infection, you need to wait for those results before sending your child to school.
2. If your child is sick or has any symptoms related to COVID19, your child needs to stay home and seek medical care when needed. (Symptoms of COVID19: fever 100.4 or above, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, headache, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, new loss of taste or smell.)
3. If your child is a close contact to a positive case, they need to stay home during the quarantine period advised by public health officials
No comments:
Post a Comment