As information on vaccine roll-out continues to be shared, individuals who test positive for COVID-19 can now complete a survey to submit their information and close contacts to Fayette County Public Health (FCPH) to better assist with contact tracing.
The survey is located on the FCPH website, www.faycohd.org, and can be found on the “COVID Case Investigation Survey” page. The direct link is www.faycohd.org/c19survey/.
“We typically don’t receive positive lab results until 1-2 days after the person who tested positive receives theirs, which causes a delay in the contact tracing process,” said Leigh Cannon, deputy health commissioner. “This survey will allow positive cases to submit their information earlier, and once our staff receives and cross-references the lab results, we can begin to process isolation and quarantine letters.”
The new process is intended to help FCPH nurses keep pace with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases that the community is seeing.
Once the survey is completed, a case investigator will call or email the positive individual with any questions. The survey is only for individuals who receive positive test results.
The information collected in case investigations helps FCPH staff to better understand what is happening in the community, identify disease trends, find outbreak clusters and identify close contacts that may need to be quarantined.
“People who would prefer to talk to a nurse to complete the case investigation can still do so,” said Cannon, “but we really encourage those who are able to complete the survey online to do that instead. This will streamline the process and help the positive individuals, their contacts and our staff members. We are busy preparing for the next phase of vaccinations, and it is important that we utilize staff in the most efficient way possible.”
FCPH is currently vaccinating individuals identified as the priority groups for Phase 1a of Ohio’s vaccine distribution plan. This includes people in the following groups: Home Health Care workers, Hospice workers, EMS/EMT responders, Primary Care Practitioners (currently not Chiropractors), Urgent Care, Pharmacy and Dialysis Center staff not covered by the hospital, dental providers, Public Health employees who are at risk of exposure (people working PODS), and high-risk Ancillary staff members.
People who belong to one of the mentioned groups, or a person acting as an agency director that believes staff meets these eligibility requirements, can complete the following survey and a member of FCPH staff will reach out to add the requested person(s) to a list for appointment scheduling — www.surveymonkey.com/r/Fayettecovidvaccine.
Note that the survey is only for individuals who qualify for Phase 1a. Currently, there is not a wait list or collection of contact information for future priority groups.
As Governor Mike DeWine shared in the Dec. 30 press conference, “to those who are offered the vaccine, it is your decision whether or not to receive it. If you do choose to get the vaccine, please have a sense of urgency. If you delay, it may take time for the vaccine to become available to you again due to its scarcity.”
If a person chooses not to receive a vaccine when it is offered to their priority group, FCPH cannot guarantee when the same person will be able to receive the vaccine if they later reconsider.
Phase 1b information:
Governor DeWine announced updates for the roll-out of Phase 1b of Ohio’s vaccination distribution at his press conference on Jan. 7.
It is important to note that vaccine availability will still be limited. It will take a number of weeks to distribute all of the vaccine given the limited doses available. Some notes from the governor’s announcement:
-On Tuesday, Jan. 19, vaccinations will begin to be made available to those who are 80 years of age and older outside of long-term care. In Ohio, that amounts to 420,000 people. The state of Ohio is expected to receive 100,000 doses that first week. It is unknown how many doses Fayette County will receive.
-On Jan. 25, eligibility will be expanded to those who are 75 and older, and those with severe congenital, developmental or early-onset medical disorders (the Ohio Department of Health will release more information on qualifying medical disorders).
-On Feb. 1, those who are 70 and older will begin receiving vaccinations. This is also the week that school personnel will begin to be vaccinated.
-On Feb. 8, eligibility will be expanded to those who are 65 and older.
More information will be released as it is available.
Information in this article came from Fayette County Public Health and the Fayette County Public Health Facebook page.
