Cape County health officials adjust virus quarantine guidance

Cape Girardeau County public health officials revised COVID-19 quarantine guidance Tuesday.

They also reported five additional virus-related deaths of county residents. Three of the fatalities involved patients in the 70 to 79 age group, while the other two deaths involved patients in the 60 to 69 and 80 to 89 age groups.

According to a release from the county’s Public Health Center, the new quarantine guidance — which went into effect Tuesday — is in accord with updated information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While CDC continues to recomment someone quarantine for 14 days after coming into close contact with an infected person, the new guidance allows for a shorter 10-day quarantine if the person has not displayed COVID-19-like symptoms.

Local officials endorsed the guidance after considering several factors, according to the release. Those factors included level of community spread, face-covering orders in effect, feasibility of contact monitoring and testing resources.

If a close contact becomes symptomatic at any time during their quarantine period, the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center recommends the individual isolate from household members, contact the Health Center and contact your local health care provider for testing.

To view the CDC definitions of confirmed and probable case, visit cdc.gov/nndss/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/case-definition/2020/.

As of Tuesday, there have been 6,322 total virus cases in the county, while 4,817 county residents have recovered from the disease. There were 1,417 active virus cases in the county Tuesday.

Tuesday’s deaths brought the county’s death toll because of COVID-19 to 88.