FDL County Health Department to Prioritize Contacts for Positive COVID-19 Tests

The Fond du Lac County Health Department will be prioritizing contacts with certain age groups who test positive for COVID-19 starting Monday.

In a Health Alert issued by the department Friday, it was announced that priority will be given to contacting positive cases who are age 65 and older, and children who are 18 years old and younger. The press release indicates all other people who test positive for the virus will be contacted as capacity allows.

Health officials say as the number of cases continue to climb, case investigation and contact tracing efforts have become “increasingly strained”, which “severely limits efforts to contain the virus.”

People who do test positive for COVID-19 are asked to stay home and isolate for a minimum of 10 days after the onset of symptoms, notify their employer or school, and notify close contacts and ask them to quarantine for 14 days from the last time they were in contact with the patient.

The public is urged to practice physical distancing, wear a mask or face covering, wash their hands frequently, and stay home as much as possible – all to slow the spread of the virus.

The health department record 241 new confirmed cases as of 2 pm Friday to surpass four-thousand cases since the pandemic began. 196 new active cases were added on Friday, with 45 cases released. 305 negative tests were recorded Friday, while the number of hospitalizations and deaths held steady.