Testing for the novel coronavirus will be reduced in Johnson County, which has reached the point where the virus is spreading by community transmission, state officials said Wednesday.
The county has the most presumed positive cases of COVID-19 in the state with 12. Five of those cases, Kansas Secretary of Health and Education Lee Norman said, involved people who did not contract the disease through travel or contact with known patients.
Because of this, and because of a limited supply of test kits, Norman said, there will be a “fundamental change” in the public health approach there.
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Centers for Disease Control guidance says local authorities should shift from a strategy of containment to mitigation once community transmission has been established in order to conserve resources.
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The World Health Organization says suspect cases that should be tested include those who are hospitalized with symptoms as well as those who exhibit symptoms and have had contact with a confirmed patient or have traveled or resided in areas of community transmission.
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Only Johnson County residents who are hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms will be tested, Norman said.
Anyone in the county with mild symptoms, Norman said, is asked to self isolate for at least seven days after symptoms start or 72 hours after their fever is gone.
The county will still be able to track the number of cases based on this testing and hospitalizations, Norman said, but the state will shift its testing supply for use in counties that have not reached community transmission.
This strategy, Norman said, will prevent the state from running out of test kits.
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Currently, Norman said, the United States is “tracing the exact same trajectory that you’re seeing for Italy” where there have been 2,978 deaths.
A month from now, he said, it is not unlikely that Kansas will have hundreds of cases.
“We have to do better,” he said.
Kansas City Star
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