EDITOR’S NOTE: Tillamook County’s COVID-19 case count continues to tick upward each day — Tillamook County Community Health Centers received postive reports for #12 and #13, and none of these cases are connected to earlier reported cases. See below for information about contact tracing. Please practice physical distancing and wear a mask as required in all indoor locations.
Contact tracing is part of the process of supporting patients with suspected or confirmed infection. In contact tracing, public health staff work with a patient to help them recall everyone with whom they have had close contact during the time frame while they may have been infectious.
Public health staff then contacts these potentially exposed individuals (contacts) as rapidly and sensitively as possible to educate and support the contacts so that they understand their risk, how to separate themselves from others who are not exposed, how to monitor themselves for illness, and the possibility that they could spread the infection to others even if they themselves do not feel ill.
To protect patient privacy, contacts are only informed that they may have been exposed to a patient with the infection. They are not told the identity of the patient who may have exposed them.
Contacts are encouraged to stay home and maintain physical distance from others (at least 6 feet) until 14 days after their last exposure, in case they also become ill. They should monitor themselves by checking their temperature twice daily and watching for cough or shortness of breath. Public health staff will periodically check in with contacts to make sure they are self-monitoring and have not developed symptoms.
You may contact the health department directly to verify the person calling you is a contact tracer who has been trained to provide this service for the health department.
For community members with health concerns, please call our COVID-19 nurse information line: 503.842.3940
