Jan 10, 2022

Overwhelmed Health Department stops COVID contact tracing

Posted Jan 10, 2022 7:26 PM

The Riley County Health Department is no longer able to provide contact tracing for every person in the community who tests positive for COVID-19.

Some cases are being referred directly to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for contact tracing, but that system is backlogged as well.

“While we are doing everything we can to catch up, we know we will not be able to get to everyone,” said Julie Gibbs, director of Riley County Health Department.

Some people who test positive may not be contacted for contracting tracing by either agency. 
 
 â€śEach individual must take responsibility to care for themselves and their families, and to notify people who are close contacts. We will share information with the public about care and treatment, and we will do everything we can to continue to help the community. The new case numbers are simply too high, and we don’t have the resources to keep up.”  


Close Contacts 
A close contact is generally someone who has been near a person with COVID-19 for at least 10 minutes when health and safety measures were not in place or were insufficient. If you are sick with symptoms of COVID-19 or if you test positive, please call the people who have been your close contacts starting two days before symptoms began. If you test positive but do not have symptoms, call close contacts starting two days before you tested positive.  
 
If you’re a close contact of someone who is sick or tests positive for COVID-19, follow quarantine guidelines based on your vaccination status.

Please note, a person who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days is considered exempt from quarantine requirements if they do not have any symptoms. Anyone with symptoms is required to isolate for at least five days, or longer than five days if their symptoms continue. Find more information from the CDC at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html#calculating-isolation.  
 
Testing 
The Riley County Health Department offers free testing for people who have symptoms of COVID-19. If you have symptoms and would like to schedule a test with RCHD, call (785) 323-6400 Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon. 
You may also contact your medical provider for testing, or visit the drive-through testing site provided by KDHE in the north parking lot of Manhattan Town Center open Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., weather permitting.  
 
Please note, hospital emergency rooms treat emergency patients, they are not a location for COVID testing. There is also a very high patient cost for testing in an emergency room setting, and the patient will be billed. Hospital resources are needed to help patients who are very ill. Please do not visit an emergency room if you are just looking for a COVID test. Go to the emergency room or call 911 if you have an emergency. 
 
Contact Riley County Health DepartmentCOVID-19 testing (785) 323-6400 (available 8:00 a.m. to noon)COVID-19 vaccine (785) 565-6560 
The next update will be published Wednesday, January 12. 

--from RCHD