Eagle County to join regional COVID-19 testing strategy with Garfield, Pitkin

Eagle County on Thursday announced it will be part of a regional COVID-19 testing strategy in conjunction with Garfield and Pitkin counties. Here’s the press release from Eagle County:

Public health departments in Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties are coordinating their regional testing strategies for COVID-19. Testing is a key containment strategy to slow the spread of the disease. Surges in cases nationwide are stressing the testing components supply chain and the capacity at state and commercial labs cannot keep up with the demand, often delaying results by up to 8 days. A regional testing strategy will focus resources to decrease disease burden while supporting the needs of local communities. Health officials are seeking to improve capacity and decrease turn-around times, ideally so that test results are available within 48 hours, maximizing their utility.

Meanwhile, the following testing strategy is being implemented until state and commercial laboratory capacity can achieve consistent turn-around times of 48 hours or fewer.

Testing is recommended for:
-People with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, including fever, cough or shortness of breath 
-People with symptoms and who are at greater risk for severe disease, including hospitalization and death (65 years of age or older or who have chronic lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, serious heart conditions, are immunocompromised, are pregnant, or are otherwise considered at high risk by a licensed healthcare provider)
-People that are hospitalized with symptoms consistent with COVID-19
-Close contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case, as defined and recommended by a local public health agency
-People within congregate settings where there may be a broader exposure to COVID-19 as  determined by a local public health agency

Testing is not routinely recommended for:
-People that do not have symptoms and no known close contact exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case
-People that are preparing to travel or recently returned from travel that do not have symptoms
-Employees that do not have a known close contact exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case
-People that are worried, but do not have a close contact exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case and do not have symptoms
-People that have been confirmed previously and are being retested for release from isolation.

Antibody Testing
-If you are currently sick, antibody testing cannot determine if that sickness is COVID-19.
-Antibody tests measure whether you have ‘antibodies’ from a virus, which only occurs after you have already recovered. 
-These tests should not be done until the patient has been without symptoms for at least seven days and does not have a fever.
-These tests indicate if a person previously had COVID-19 and whether or not they have the antibodies.
-A positive antibody test does not provide complete assurance at this time that someone will be protected from a future COVID-19 infection and people should continue to take precautions and adhere to the Five Commitments of Containment.
-With the exception of specific clinical scenarios, antibody testing is not used to diagnose active COVID-19 disease.

“We cannot test and trace our way out of this pandemic,” said Heath Harmon, Director of Eagle County Public Health and Environment. “We need greater compliance on prevention measures from all people in our communities, regardless of whether they are locals or visitors.”  

Public health officials from all three counties stressed the need for community members to work collectively to help slow the transmission of COVID-19 and how individual behaviors have a direct impact on the whole community. Individual precautions can allow businesses to stay open, keep the local workforce employed, help open schools, set the stage for a winter that may see ski resorts open again, protect the most vulnerable residents, and save lives.

The Five Commitments of Containment are:
-I will maintain 6 feet of social distance
-I will wash my hands often
-I will cover my face in public
-I will stay home when I am sick
-I will get tested immediately if I have symptoms

A map of testing locations in Eagle County is available at https://sites.google.com/eaglecounty.us/covidtestingsites/home. Testing information for Garfield County is available at https://www.garfield-county.com/public-health/covid-19-testing/. Testing information for Pitkin County is available at https://covid19.pitkincounty.com/i-want-to/#get-tested