Information was provided by
Dr. Craig Whiting, Texas Department of State Health Services Local Health Authority,
and Marsha Hardy, Emergency Management Coordinator for San Saba County
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WHEN TO CONSIDER BEING TESTED FOR COVID INFECTION
WHEN TO CONSIDER BEING TESTED FOR COVID INFECTION
* Even if testing is not deemed appropriate due to symptoms or exposure, it is understood that testing may be required by employer, nursing home or for travel arrangements.
** Isolation when diagnosed with COVID means remaining at home in space as separate from other household members as possible for 10 days. Isolation can end if person is free of fever for 24 hours (without taking any fever reducing medication) and all symptoms have significantly improved at day 10.
Quarantine is for asymptomatic people who had a close contact with a COVID infected person. They should remain at home in space as separate from other household members as possible for up to 14 days. If they remain without symptoms at day 10 and had a negative COVID test on or after day 7 of quarantine, then can end quarantine at day 10.
CASES: Total = 427
San Saba County = 162
City of San Saba = 265
RECOVERED: 382
San Saba County = 144
City of San Saba = 238
ACTIVE: 40
San Saba County = 13
City of San Saba = 27
NO HOSPITALIZATIONS
DEATHS: 8
Message from Dr. Craig Whiting:
Thanks to the multiple volunteers who have staffed the COVID testing, we have been able to offer testing on multiple days each week. (See the San Saba County Office of Emergency Management Facebook page for the schedule and location of testing.) Questions that are often asked when people drive up for testing is whether the testing is necessary and if it is accurate. Let’s deal with the accuracy question first since it also helps define if a person needs to be tested.
The rapid coronavirus test that we are utilizing at our testing sites is very SPECIFIC. That means that it is very accurate when the result is positive. If you have a positive result then you certainly have a COVID infection. The test is not as SENSITIVE. That means that there are sometimes “false negative” results, and you may have a COVID infection even though the test result did not show it. This false negative can occur if you are early in the stages of infection or if the sample collected did not happen to capture any of the virus. For safety sake, a person who has symptoms consistent with a COVID infection (fever, cough, chills, body aches, headache, sore throat, diarrhea, shortness of breath, loss of sense of smell or taste) should consider themselves to have a COVID infection even if their test comes back negative.
The “incubation period” (that is the time from catching the virus to the time when symptoms appear) can be as long as 14 days for COVID, though four to seven days is more common. Likewise, it can take a few days after catching the virus before the test that we do can detect the virus. For this reason, testing immediately after “close contact” (that is being within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or longer) may not detect the virus even if you are infected. Also, a person is contagious (i.e. spreading the virus) for two or more days before symptoms appear. So if you have had close contact but no symptoms, then you do not need to test, but you do need to quarantine.
Reminder from Marsha Hardy:
Keep trying to protect yourself and those around you!
Simply: wash your hands, wear your mask, pay attention to your surroundings and, mostly, be kind!
You can see Marsha's daily updates on: Facebook/San Saba County Emergency Management.
TESTING INFORMATION:
• January 2021 Testing Schedule:
Civic Center: Wednesday, January 20th, from 1:00 to 3:00
Civic Center: Thursday, January 21st, from 8:00 to 10:00
Civic Center: Friday, January 22nd, from 8:00 to 10:00
Other Testings:
Integrity Urgent Care does COVID-19 testing 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Appointments are preferred due to high volumes of those being tested. The testing is FREE to those who do not have health insurance. 254-577-5642 Location: 310 E. Hwy. 190 Suite 254, Copperas Cove, Texas.