2020 Edition—Morgantown Insider's Guide Back to School

Contagious with symptoms

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Contagious without symptoms

the comes DIRTYCLEAN.com

441 Brockway Avenue Morgantown WV 26501

As the school year kicks in, new infections are to be expected. But they don’t have to get out of control. When someone tests positive, the Monongalia County Health Department (MCHD) calls everyone that person may have exposed and tosses an information and isolation net around those people to stop the virus there. “When people cooperate, things get nipped in the bud really quick- ly,” says Jennifer Goldcamp, MCHD director of nursing. If an MCHD contact tracer calls you, it’s because someone in your family has been within six feet of a person who’s tested positive for more than 15 minutes in the previous 48 hours—a co-worker, a hair- dresser, one of your children’s fellow students. She can’t tell you who tested positive—that would violate medical privacy laws. The caller will ask whether the potentially exposed person is having symptoms or has pre-existing conditions that mean greater risk. If so, she’ll suggest getting a doctor’s referral for a COVID test. She’ll also ask for the exposed person’s address, birth date, and race, information that helps public health efforts down the line. Finally, the caller will tell you the exposed person is required to self- quarantine for two weeks or until a negative test result. Someone from the MCHD will text each day during quarantine to see how it’s going. Answer their texts—they’re working hard to minimize the spread. Transmission is a fact of life in a pandemic. Contact tracing minimizes it. KEEPING OUTBREAKS CONTAINED

304.241.5616 wash/dry/fold

Exotic Jungle Pet Superstore 35 years in business on the Mileground

1716 Mileground Road | 304.296.8552 | Mon-Sat 10–6 Sun 10–5 Masks required Curb-side pickup available Full Line of Pet Supplies

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