Friday, September 25, 2020 ● Volume 1, Issue 30
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NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
The COVID-19 Weekly Update will provide current information and resources for DuPage County. We encourage you to share this widely through our community. To subscribe and receive weekly local updates on COVID-19, please fill out this form.
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Health Department Encourages Residents
to Answer the Call
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DUPAGE COUNTY—The DuPage County Health Department’s (DCHD) COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing Program is asking residents to answer the call and help slow the spread of COVID-19. By answering the call, you can help keep yourself, your family and your community safe.
Residents who test positive for COVID-19 may receive a call from the number 312-777-1999 or Caller ID: COVID CONTACT. If a call from 312-777-1999 is missed, individuals are able to call it back and be routed to a case investigation/contact tracing specialist.
During this call, specialists from the health department will ask the person about their illness and about anyone they may have had close contact with while ill. Health department staff will also ensure that the person with COVID-19 has the necessary resources needed to stay home and isolate to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, the person with COVID-19 will be encouraged to identify and notify their close contacts about their illness, especially household contacts, so they may immediately be advised to self-quarantine and monitor their symptoms.
Close contacts are individuals who have been within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more with a person with COVID-19 or have had direct contact with fluids from a person with COVID-19 (for example, being coughed or sneezed on, sharing eating or drinking utensils), or have had direct physical contact with a person with COVID-19 (hugged or kissed them), or have provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Every week, the DuPage County Health Department will be sharing the most frequently asked questions about the coronavirus pandemic to help educate and inform county residents. For the week of September 21, 2020, our Education Response Team received the following questions:
Q1. How do you determine quarantine for a household contact?
Q2. Do contacts to a contact that are not household contacts need to quarantine?
No, only people who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 (excluding people who have had COVID-19 within the past 3 months) need to quarantine.
People who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to 3 months as long as they do not develop symptoms again. People who develop symptoms again within 3 months of their first bout of COVID-19 may need to be tested again if there is no other cause identified for their symptoms.
What counts as close contact?
- You were within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more
- You provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19
- You had direct physical contact with the person (hugged or kissed them)
- You shared eating or drinking utensils
- They sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on you
Q3. How do I get a Release from Quarantine letter?
Call 312-777-1999 or contact your school for a Quarantine Release Letter.
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Small Social Gatherings Safety Tips |
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Small social gatherings are places where COVID-19 can quickly spread. Also, as we start thinking ahead to special holidays and family get-togethers, here are some tips to help small social gatherings greatly reduce the propensity for spread during this time of pandemic. Small holiday gatherings must be planned with great care in order to be as safe as possible. Here are some crucial safety tips to help reduce risk of infection:
- You should get your flu-shot prior to visiting friends and family during the flu season. Influenza activity begins in the month of October and often peaks in the winter months so the time to get your flu shot is now.
- Take special care to avoid exposure during the two weeks prior to an in-person event in order to prevent asymptomatic spread of COVID-19.
- Consider creating additional ventilation by opening windows slightly where possible.
- Elder and immunocompromised individuals should consider refraining from in- person events.
- For in-person small gatherings, let your guests know ahead of time what you will be doing and your expectations for creating safe in-person holiday/social gatherings in your home. The following safety tips are crucial for the safety of you family and friends and should be an essential part of your planning.
- Provide paper towels in the bathroom in place of a communal/shared hand towel.
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COVID-19 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES |
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Flu Vaccine Voucher Program DuPage County |
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This year, it’s more important than ever to make sure everyone in your family gets a flu vaccine. Getting your flu shot will help to keep you, your family, and your community safe and can help you avoid co-infection of COVID-19 and the flu.
The DuPage Health Coalition is joining partners in DuPage County to make it easier for all of individuals to stay healthy and flu-free. With funding provided by DuPage County, DHC is offering free flu vaccine vouchers to uninsured DuPage County residents whose financial circumstances make it difficult to get their annual flu shot.
Vouchers will be sent to individuals who request them (by email or mail) and can be redeemed at any DuPage County Walgreens until December 31st, while supplies last.
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Temporary COVID-19 Testing Site Hanover Park |
The State of Illinois is sponsoring a temporary COVID-19 Mobile Test Site at Evangel Church in Hanover Park.
When: Wednesday, September 30 through Thursday, October 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: 5700 Bartels Road, Hanover Park, IL.
Additional information:
- Simple nasal swabs will be used.
- You will be called with results within 4-7 days.
- No cost for testing.
- Bring your insurance card, but you can still be tested if you don’t have insurance.
- Anyone can get tested! You don’t have to have symptoms or be sick.
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DuPage County Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site |
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DuPage County is offering community-based COVID-19 drive-thru testing at the DuPage County Complex. The entrance is located on County Farm Road a few blocks North of Roosevelt Road at a stoplight. Follow the signs through the campus to the test site.
The testing site is open Monday through Friday from 7 am until noon or until the daily test capacity of 600 is reached.No appointment, symptoms or insurance is required.
For more information about the testing site or what to expect, please click here.
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Pillars Community Health
COVID-19 Testing in Willowbrook
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Pillars Community Health offers drive-up testing for COVID-19 across the street from Burr Ridge Middle School in Burr Ridge.
Limited tests available; appointment required; please call 708-PILLARS (708-745-5277) .
Testing is available on Tuesdays 9 am-Noon and Thursdays from 9 am-1 pm to
anyone with symptoms of COVID-19; or anyone with a known exposure to COVID-19 (have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19); or asymptomatic, high-risk patients, first responders, health care workers, or essential workers who wish to be tested.
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VNA Health Care COVID-19 Testing |
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VNA Health Care offers COVID-19 testing by appointment only to new and existing patients with or without symptoms.
Community mobile testing clinics are also available in Bensenville and West Chicago through VNA Health Care.
VNA Mobile Clinic at St. Alexis Catholic Church
400 W Wood Ave, Bensenville, IL, 60106
VNA Mobile Clinic at St. Andrew's Church
155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185
To schedule an appointment, call (630) 892-4355 or (847) 717-6455.
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Illinois COVID-19 Hotline and Email Address |
If you have questions about Coronavirus - Call the Illinois Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Hotline:
Both are available anytime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Friday, September 25, 2020 ● Volume 1, Issue 30
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