Western Upper Peninsula Health Department Outlines Contact Tracing

This past Friday afternoon, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, issued a press release, outlining the steps for contact tracing.

This happens when a person may have been in contact, with a person who has an infectious disease.

Contact Tracing is used to help contain an outbreak.

While we battle the COVID-19 pandemic, this is essential in making sure people exposed to the disease get proper care, and will hopefully slow the spread of the virus.

The three basic steps to Contract Tracing.

Step One: Interviewing the positive patient, finding out the people who have been in close contact, whether or not they have underlying health concerns.

Step Two: Involves informing people that they  have been in close contact with the infected person, and self quarantining for 14 days. Being tested may also happen, if the contact shows symptoms.

Step Three: Local health department staff follows up daily with the contact, to monitor them for signs of the infection, and address concerns the contact may have.

Since there is no vaccine, the best way to stay safe is to avoid exposure.

Preventative steps include frequent hand washing, staying home when you are sick and frequently disinfecting heavily touched surfaces.

In the same press release, an updated testing list for the Western Upper Peninsula was also included.

To date, the five counties making up the Western Upper Peninsula, Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon, have had 589 residents referred for testing.

Twenty-eight cancelled tests.

Seven confirmed positive cases.

497 negative tests and 57 tests waiting for results.

The one death in the Western Upper Peninsula came from Gogebic County, back on  March 27th.

Numbers to call for both the local and state  COVID-19 hotlines are here: 

The local number for the COVID-19 Hotline is 906 487 5545 Monday through Friday 8am-4pm.

The number for the state COVID-19 Hotline is 888 535 6136 Seven Days a week, 8am-5pm.

The link to the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department is here.