All,
It has been a difficult week for the health district. We have seen cases rising in the district overall. Our 7-day moving average of new cases is higher than we have seen so far in this pandemic. Granted, a majority of the case increase continues to be due to an outbreak in a correctional facility, and most of these cases do not pose a direct risk to the community at large. However, we still see increasing numbers outside of this situation that cause concern for our communities.
A couple of items-
· Our people are tired. Our contact tracing and case investigation team members are working 7 days a week. Our epidemiologists and emergency planning staff folks have been working nothing but COVID-19 since February, working around the clock to mitigate the spread of the disease. Many of you have returned to your work after the initial few months of worry and anxiety. We haven’t had this luxury. It still consumes our lives and thoughts as public health professionals.
· Let the process work. When a case is identified, the most important thing to happen from a public health standpoint is to isolate that person from everyone else so that they no longer can transmit illness to anyone else. Our team will then work to identify those who are close contacts and appropriately recommend quarantine for those persons. Please realize that this will not happen immediately. For most rapid tests, we get the result the next day from the test provider. This means that the infected person knows the result of their test much sooner than our team does. This goes on social media and people flood our team with demands to know why they haven’t been contacted yet. People need to show understanding of this process, exhibit common sense and isolate/quarantine themselves while waiting for our team to start the tracing process.
Please continue to do those things that will keep you and your communities safe. Wash your hands frequently, watch your distance, and wear a mask when you can’t. Thanks for all you do.
Wade Kartchner, MD, MPH
Health Director: Rappahannock/Rapidan Health District
