Scott, New Madrid county health departments outline quarantine guidelines

NEW MADRID, Mo. — With the school year quickly approaching and COVID numbers increasing, both the Scott County and New Madrid County health departments released quarantine procedures for county residents.

According to the announcements, both released last week, any person who is considered a "close contact" of a positive COVID patient will be asked to quarantine one of two ways.

The first way is a test-out option. With this option, the patient must quarantine for a full seven day from their last contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID and remain asymptomatic those seven days. On day five, six or seven, if the patient receives a negative test result and remains asymptomatic, they may return to regular activities on the eighth day. The test-out option is only accepted if tested on day five, six or seven of quarantine, and written proof of the test result is required.

The second option is a traditional 10-day quarantine. This option requires a full 10 days of quarantine with the patient being able to return to regular activities on day 11 with no test required.

All recommendations are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and may change at any time.

Close contact is defined as someone who has been within 6 feet of a patient who has tested positive for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period beginning 48 hours before the patients symptoms began.

A fully-vaccinated individual will be exempt from quarantine unless they become symptomatic.

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two weeks after their single-dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Masks and social distancing are still recommended for all individuals who are unvaccinated.

Vaccinations are available for people 12 and older.

Residents may schedule a vaccination by contacting the Scott County Health Department at (573) 471-4044 or the New Madrid County Health Department at (573) 748-5541.