By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If you file the form on the website with the Reno County Health Department saying you may have contracted COVID-19, be prepared to spend some time on the phone as they follow up.
"I would say a conservative metric is about 45 minutes to an hour," said Health Department Director Nick Baldetti. "In terms of just getting a backstory, information from the individual and then expanding the investigation from there."
If the symptomology, history and timeline fit with potential exposure, the department may ask for more information.
"If it escalates, then we'll obviously be making recommendations to that individual," Baldetti said. "Whether that equates to continuance of isolation or to begin self-isolation and/or to a medical provider to get testing with a pre-vet from the public health department."
The reason to test is to confirm that the isolation is necessary.
"At this point, most likely, it will be the recommendation for a voluntary quarantine," Baldetti said. "I, as the health officer, would not be ordering a mandatory quarantine for someone who isn't known laboratory confirmed. We would need that laboratory confirmation to order that."
Baldetti is not concerned that it would take too long to get a test back, if one is needed.
"We, anecdotally, are seeing a longer lag still from the KHIL lab versus the private lab capacities," Baldetti said. "Generally speaking, I think that lag has definitely decreased over the last few weeks."
Figuring out if someone has recovered is still a challenge, though, as Baldetti has not heard of any sort of robust antibody testing infrastructure in Kansas.