By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff
Public Health officials posted no new COVID-19 positive test results Friday on Sitka’s dashboard, but by the end of the weekend five cases had been added.
Along with the latest dashboard additions, officials said the state has reviewed Centers for Disease Control’s revised guidance and now provides two new options to shorten COVID-19 quarantines.
“We are now officially utilizing the CDC recommendations and changing 14-day quarantine to 10 or 7 as per the guidelines ...,” Public Health Nurse Denise Ewing stated in an email to city, health and school officials. “Thank you for your patience as we waited for the final word from the state.”
Friday, Dec. 4, marked the first day in more than a month without a positive test result. On Saturday, one case was added, and on Sunday another four.
The five weekend positives were from tests taken Dec. 3-5, and all were for residents.
The positive test posted Saturday, Dec. 5, was for a symptomatic woman, age 30-39, tested Dec. 3; her transmission classification is “secondary,” and contact tracing is completed.
Sunday (Dec. 6) results were for:
– a man, age 20-29, tested Dec. 4, contact tracing in progress.
– a symptematic woman, 50-59, tested Dec. 5, ‘‘secondary,’’ contact tracing complete.
– a boy, age 0-9, tested Dec. 5, contact tracing in progress.
– a woman, age 60-69, tested Dec. 3, contact tracing in progress.
Most of the COVID-19 cases in recent weeks have been attributed to “secondary” transmission, although there were a handful attributed to “travel” and “community spread.”
The lower number of cases on Friday and Saturday marks a slight dip in the 14-day rolling average case rate, to 4.14 cases per day. Sitka went into the “red” – or high risk – level when it passed 1 average case per day more than a month ago.
The current number of active cases is 17. The cumulative case total is 207 residents and 21 nonresidents. Of the 228 total cumulative cases, 203 are listed as “recovered.”
A new chart shows options for quarantining. (provided by Denise Ewing)
Ewing said today the last multiday streak with no cases was October 22-25.
Ewing outlined the new quarantine recommendations after she attended a statewide meeting Thursday, and was instructed that final quarantine change adaptations through the Department of Epidemiology and state were taking place because of the CDC’s revisions.
She clarified that local public health authorities determine and establish the quarantine options for their jurisdictions.
“CDC currently recommends a quarantine period of 14 days,” Ewing said. “However, based on local circumstances and resources, the following options to shorten quarantine are acceptable alternatives.” They are:
– Quarantine can end after Day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. Under this strategy, Ewing said, residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 1 percent with an upper limit of about 10 percent.
– When diagnostic testing resources are sufficient and available, then quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring. The specimen may be collected and tested within 48 hours before the time of planned quarantine discontinuation (e.g., in anticipation of testing delays), but quarantine can’t be discontinued earlier than after Day 7. With this strategy, the residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 5 percent with an upper limit of about 12 percent, Ewing said.
In either case, the CDC has additional criteria, including “all contacts must still continue to monitor symptoms and wear masks, adhere to social distancing and preventative measures for an entire 14-day period.”
In the state announcement, Alaska Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink said:
“These changes were made based on data on when people are most likely to test positive and become contagious after close contact with an individual who has tested positive. This is a common-sense approach based on the most current information we have about this disease. These shortened quarantine options will continue to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while easing the burden on those who must quarantine. This new guidance will help Alaskans successfully complete their quarantine requirements.”
In its Dec. 2 post on the options to reduce quarantine periods, the CDC said it recognizes that “quarantine shorter than 14 days balances reduced burden against a small possibility of increasing the spread of the virus.”
Quarantine is intended to reduce the risk that infected people might unknowingly transmit infection to others, the CDC said, and ensures that those who become symptomatic or are otherwise diagnosed during quarantine can be rapidly brought to care and evaluated.
“However, a 14-day quarantine can impose personal burdens that may affect physical and mental health as well as cause economic hardship that may reduce compliance,” the CDC said. “Implementing quarantines can also pose additional burdens on public health systems and communities, especially during periods when new infections, and consequently the number of contacts needing to quarantine, are rapidly rising. Lastly, the prospect of quarantine may dissuade recently diagnosed persons from naming contacts and may dissuade contacts from responding to contact tracer outreach if they perceive the length of quarantine as onerous.”
The full recommendation for the briefer quarantine options is available from the CDC at:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-options-to-reduce-quarantine.html.
The state announcement is available at:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/AKDHSS/bulletins/2af672a.
