Officials from the Logan County Health District announced Thursday that LCHD nursing and contact tracing staff will be contacting positive COVID-19 cases via an automated phone call due to an overwhelming increase in COVID-19 cases and extremely limited resources.
These phone calls will take place between 4 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding during this extremely busy time,” Nursing Director Kelly Reaver said.
According to the COVID-19 state dashboard for Logan County, there have been 984 cases of COVID-19 since the first cases began in the spring, including 11 deaths in the county. There also 55 people who are hospitalized with the virus.
Upon receiving a positive COVID-19 lab result, the person who tested positive will be contacted by the LCHD nursing and/or contact tracing staff via the automated call.
The automated call requires a response, so recipients should listen closely for instructions at the end of the message.
It is recommended that if you tested positive for COVID-19, you should notify all of your close contacts whom you may have infected. LCHD will not be making those calls at this time, but will give instructions for how to do so, as well as isolation/quarantine practices.
If you are notified of being a close contact to a COVID-19 positive case, you should begin the quarantine best practices, including:
• Staying at home and not allowing visitors;
• Monitoring and logging health for symptoms of COVID-19;
• Wearing a mask when closer than 6 feet to those in a shared household;
• Wearing a mask and maintaining a 6-foot distance from others if making essential trips (such as trips for groceries or prescription pickups);
• Regularly and thoroughly washing your hands;
• Regularly and thoroughly disinfecting frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, faucets, TV remotes, cell phones, computers, tablets, etc.; and
• Doing your best to increase air exchange by cracking windows and doors.
For letters required for school, work or extracurricular excuse or return, call the LCHD Call Center at (937) 592-9040, Option 1. Leave a message including your name, phone number, date of exposure, mailing address and/or e-mail address.
These requests can also be e-mailed to covid19.
Residents should expect a delay (approximately 24 to 48 hours) to receive a return call when trying to reach the COVID-19 Call Center. Leaving multiple messages will further slow our staff and delay response times.
General COVID-19 questions and all complaints should be directed to the Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH) call center at (833) 4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634). General information can also be found at www.loganhealth.org or www.coronavirus.ohio.gov.