State health officials are advising anyone who has been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 to get tested for the virus, even if not personally experiencing symptoms.
The advisory comes in the wake of a new Centers for Disease control that said those in close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 and are not experiencing symptoms themselves do not necessarily need to be tested.
For people who were put into quarantine promptly after such exposure, DHSS recommends testing during the second week of their 14-day quarantine, said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, chief epidemiologist with DHSS.
“The main problem we want to avoid is asymptomatic people getting tested too early after their exposure to decrease the likelihood of a false-negative test for those who are infected with the virus that causes COVID-19,” he said.
Testing asymptomatic people during their quarantine period helps to identify those who are infected with the virus, their need to be in isolation, and the need to notify and quarantine their close contacts.
It is also important that people remain in quarantine for the full 14 days even if they test negative at some point during the quarantine period, DHSS officials said. A negative test does not shorten quarantine but helps determine who else may have been exposed to the virus.
