If you start feeling bad and you have any of these symptoms — fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle/body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion/runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea — you should get tested for COVID-19.
To get tested locally, you could visit CareFirst Urgent Care, Greater Tomorrow Health Urgent Care, HealthSource of Ohio, The Little Clinic in Kroger, and some primary care physicians. We recommend that you call the facility first to see if you need an appointment to be seen or if they accept walk-in customers, and to ensure that they have Covid-19 tests available.
Please do not go to Clinton Memorial Hospital (CMH) Emergency Room or the Clinton County Health District to be tested. The Emergency Room is for emergencies only, and the Health District does not provide COVID-19 testing.
Once you have had your test and you receive the results, what should you do next?
If you receive a positive result, you will need to isolate yourself for 10 days. This means that you need to go home, stay away from others, including your family members, and isolate yourself for 10 days.
Do not go to work, the grocery store, the school, your child’s sporting events or any prior appointment you may have. The only place you may visit is your medical provider’s office; or if you begin experience shortness of breath, the hospital.
You are isolating yourself (the infected person who is sick) from everyone around you who is not sick. You should continue to monitor your symptoms and if they get worse call your primary care physician immediately to see what to do next.
You will also need to complete a survey on survey monkey for the Health District. This survey can be found at the top of the Clinton County Health District’s Webpage, Facebook and Twitter pages or at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CLHW5KP .
This survey will provide the CCHD information on when your symptoms started, who was a close contact, how many people live in your house and where you work.
By providing this information, we will be able to notify your close contacts and have them quarantine for a period of 10 days. We will also be able to provide you with a letter for your employer excusing you from work. If you do not complete this survey, we will not be able to provide any letters to you or your close contacts.
At any time during your isolation, you may contact the Clinton County Health District at 937-382-3829 with questions.
If you have been identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive, you should quarantine for 14 days and monitor your symptoms.
A close contact is someone that you were in contact with for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period with less than 6 feet distance. A close contact was someone you were in contact with 48 hours prior to your symptoms starting or 48 hours prior to you testing positive.
Quarantining means that you should stay away from others, stay at home and monitor your symptoms. Quarantining is to help prevent the spread of a contagious disease to others, including those who have health problems.
If you start to feel ill, or start to have any symptoms during this quarantine period then you should get tested.
Once you have completed your isolation period or quarantine period you will receive a letter with your return to work date/return to school date.
At this time, you may want to consider getting vaccinated to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. You should always consult your family physician prior to getting a vaccination, and to see how long they recommend you wait after testing positive to get the vaccine.
If you do choose to get your vaccination, the Clinton County Health District is currently offering a walk-in clinic on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 1-4 p.m. in the Community Room at the Clinton County Annex located at 111 S. Nelson Ave., Wilmington.
Stephanie Stewart, REHS, is with the Environmental Health Division, Clinton County Health District.
