Franklin County Health Department Releases Contact Tracing Tiers
The Franklin County Health Department continues to respond to increasing numbers of both confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in our community. The surge in new cases and each new case's work intensity requires a shift in how public health resources are used on a national, state, and local level. While we understand communicable disease investigations and contact tracing are a core disease control measure, we are now well beyond our capacity to reach out to every case and every contact.
Effective December 2nd, 2020, the Franklin County Health Department will implement changes to prioritize how COVID-19 cases are worked based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). The operational guidance is advised when "the number of cases and contacts has outpaced the capacity of the public health system to quickly notify and quarantine all contacts."
Prioritizing Case Investigations and Contact Tracing for COVID-19 in High Burden Jurisdictions Operational Considerations for Adapting a Contact Tracing Program to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Contact Tracing Tiers and Interventions
Category 1: Extreme Risk: 7-day case rate of 351 cases or more per 100k population • Investigate cases prioritizing those reported within the past 6 days, especially those in vulnerable populations, cases associated with congregate settings, cases associated with outbreaks, and other high risk groups, as defined by the CDC, using the simple case investigation.
• Contact tracing may be limited, and resources temporarily reassigned to case interviews depending on the number of staff and the number of resources.
• If case interviews are prioritized, provide positive cases with instructions for self-notifying close contacts with a request for close contacts to self-quarantine according to current CDC guidelines after the last possible exposure.
Category 2: Critical Risk: 7-day case rate of 101-350 cases per 100k population • Investigate cases prioritizing those reported within the past 6 days, especially those in vulnerable populations, cases associated with congregate settings, and cases associated with outbreaks, and other high-risk groups as defined by the CDC. At this level of community transmission, a simple case investigation may be appropriate.
• Prioritize contact tracing for household contacts exposed within the past 6 days and contacts outside the house who are living, working, attending, or visiting congregate settings, part of a cluster/outbreak, or settings or events with potential extensive transmission.
Category 3: Serious Risk: 7-day case rate of 10-100 cases per 100k population
• Investigate all cases with a positive test collected in the past 14 days
• Trace all close contacts, while prioritizing contacts of symptomatic cases, household contacts, contacts associated with outbreaks, those associated with congregate settings, and other groups at increased risk for severe illness, as defined by the CDC Category 4Low to moderate risk: 7-day case rate of 0-9 cases per 100k population
• Investigate all cases with positive test collected in the past 14 days
• Trace all close contacts exposed within the past 14 day
Public health leaders received notification on December 1st, 2020 that the statewide order directing initiation of case investigation and contact tracing of all school-age children within 24 hours of receipt has been revised to remove the 24-hour requirement. Schools will remain a "congregate setting" as defined by DHSS and the CDC to remain a top tier priority for case investigations and contact tracing. The Franklin County Health Department will continue to work closely with the school districts to decrease the spread of COVID-19 in the school setting.
Per DHSS, "As many LPHAs shift to a new approach to contact tracing where individuals who test positive are responsible for notifying any potential close contacts (instead of the LPHA conducting contact notification), schools may be unclear on their role in this new approach/system. As schools become aware of positive cases (from families or staff members directly), school officials can review any possible exposures within the school setting. If those identified as close contacts to the positive case were appropriately masked, and your school has implemented a mask mandate and follows the recently modified state guidance, those close contacts could continue to attend school. School officials can notify families or staff members potentially exposed, letting them know they can continue attending school under this modified guidance. Still, health officials continue to recommend those individuals self-quarantine outside of school. But, keep in mind, that would be a suggestion/recommendation from school officials, as schools do not have the authority to "order" quarantine outside of school; schools can only exclude individuals from the school setting."
We are asking all community members to do your part in stopping the spread of this virus. If you are sick, please stay home. Wear a mask when around others. Wash your hands. Even if we do not contact you, we ask that you still do the right thing and follow CDC guidance for isolation if you are sick
(https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/isolation.html) and quarantine if you are a close contact to a case (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html).
All data questions and media inquiries should be directed to Commissioner Brinker at (636) 583-7323. For all other questions or concerns please contact the Franklin County Health Department at (636) 583-7300.
New Cases
The county reported 50 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 5,108.
The positivity rate over the last seven days is 28.1%.
There are 100 cases in nursing homes and 23 people are hospitalized.
The 10-day rolling total is 574 and the 14-day average of new cases is 64.07.