Bates County Health Center confirms new positive cases of COVID-19

August 28, 2020

Bates County Health Center has confirmed more positive cases of COVID-19 in Bates County. The cases reside in Amoret, Rich Hill, Butler & Drexel. Contact tracing is being done at this time and any parties that have had close contact, as reported to us by the positive cases, are being notified. Please keep in mind that our contact tracing is ONLY as good as the information we get from the positive individuals--sometimes it is difficult to remember everyone you might have had close contact with when we are doing the interview. If you feel you have been a close contact and have not been contacted by the Health Department either reach out to the individual you think you were exposed to or to our office and we will contact the positive case for confirmation.

Any individuals advised of need for isolation and quarantine are per CDC guidelines. Also, there are questions about having to remain in quarantine for 14 days even if you get a negative result. The following is information from the CDC guidance:

When to start and end quarantine

You should stay home for 14 days after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19.

Even if you test negative for COVID-19 or feel healthy, you should stay home (quarantine) since symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html

The reason an individual can’t “test out of quarantine” is because it may take up to 14 days for symptoms to appear and you can infect others up to 48 hours prior to showing symptoms. This was the case of one such individual that quarantined as directed and on day 14 began to show symptoms and tested positive.

At this time, Bates County has had 75 positives cases, 15 of which are currently active and isolated.

We would also like to remind individuals that if you have been tested, you should quarantine at home until test results are received—this decreases any possible exposure for others in the event your results come back positive.

With our numbers for Bates County rising, we hope everyone will continue to practice social distancing, clean/disinfect any high touched surfaces, wash their hands with soap and water routinely, use hand sanitizer if soap and water is not available, avoid touching your face (especially eyes, nose & mouth), and to stay home if you are sick. Wearing a mask in public is also encouraged. It is up to each and every one of us to stop the spread of this disease!