Second case in Lincoln confirmed; general procedures outlined

As of March 27, Lincoln has been notified of its second confirmed case of coronavirus. Here are the actions that must be taken by Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean, patients, and close contacts in these situations:

• The public health nurse is notified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health when there is a confirmed case of Covid-19 in town. She is not given negative test results.
• The public heath nurse notifies the positive case of their result, if they don’t already know. The new case is then given strict instructions to isolate themselves from household members and is not allowed out into the community until directed by a public health authority.
• If you are ordered to isolate, you may not leave your home. If you live with someone else, you need to isolate yourself from other people in the home. There are specific guidelines that must be met for isolation discontinuation which will be strictly enforced before a positive case can leave the house and circulate in the community.
• The other household members will most likely be in quarantine for 14 days. “Isolating” refers to sick people while “quarantine” refers to for healthy people who are at risk of getting sick.
• The next step is to identify close contacts of the new positive case. Close contacts refer to those people who were within six feet for 15 minutes or more when the infected person was symptomatic with fever, cough, etc. This is the time when the virus is most contagious. Those contacts are identified and interviewed by the public health nurse and told to quarantine themselves in their home for 14 days. Frequent calls and check-ins are made throughout the 14-day period for both the positive case and his/her close contacts.