So you tested positive for COVID in Kansas City. Now what?
.JPG "Breana Slusser, a medical assistant at Family Health Care KC performs a COVID-19 test for Grant Johnson of Kansas City on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, at the clinic in Kansas City, Kan., Johnson, a medical student at The University of Kansas, needed a negative test to travel to Jamaica on Wednesday. In addition to the COVID-19 tests, the clinic is offering COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots.")
The highly contagious omicron variant is part of a surge in new COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City area and around the country. As a result, many residents are seeking out COVID-19 tests to determine whether they’ve been infected.
Kansas Citians can use home COVID tests or visit a local testing center.
But what should you do if your test comes back positive? We consulted local experts on how to care for yourself and help prevent the spread of the virus.
What should I do if I get a positive test result?
If you test positive for COVID-19, experts say you should stay home and isolate yourself from others for at least five days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidance for those who have COVID but don’t feel sick, from a 10-day isolation to five days of isolation, plus five more days of strict mask-wearing.
If you feel sick after the five-day isolation, you should keep isolating until you feel better, and seek medical attention if your symptoms get worse. But experts say that most people won’t experience this.
“The vast majority of people will not need to seek any medical care,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Kansas Health System. “Many, many people will have … very slight symptoms, and they’ll resolve quickly.”
The new five-day isolation window is meant to keep you from infecting others during the most contagious period of your infection. The day you test positive is considered “day zero,” while the following full day is day one, the next day is day two and so on.
What does it mean to isolate?
Isolating means staying at home, indoors and away from other people, for the duration of your most infectious period. If you live with other people, try your best to confine yourself to one room away from others and use a separate bathroom if possible. Read more about how the CDC defines isolation here.
What should I do if I feel sick, but test negative?
If you have COVID-19 symptoms but get a negative test result, experts say you should try to get a follow-up test. It’s possible that you may just have a common cold or the flu, but it’s best to re-test to be sure. A highly precise PCR test, available at many testing clinics around the city, is one of the most accurate ways to detect COVID-19.
“If you have symptoms or a known exposure and you get a negative test, I think it is important to try and get a follow-up test with a PCR,” said Hawkinson. He added that it’s best to stay away from others when you feel sick, regardless of whether or not you have COVID.
“You really shouldn’t be going to work sick anyways,” he said.
Who should I tell about my positive test result?
The first people to tell about your positive test result are your friends, family, co-workers and anyone else with whom you’ve been in close contact recently. The CDC defines “close contact” as spending 15 minutes or more within 6 feet of someone in a span of 24 hours. It’s a good idea for these people to seek their own COVID tests around five days after exposure to be sure they were not infected.
How will local officials know to count my case towards their totals?
If you get your positive result at a testing location, testing staff will report a new COVID-19 case to local officials. If you take a test at home and send it in to a lab for results, the lab will inform the proper authorities in your area that a new case has been detected. The only time you should report a positive result yourself is if you take a rapid test at home.
“They should be reporting their positive result to their local public health agency for both reporting and guidance,” said Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Informing your county or city of your positive test result will help officials accurately track the virus. This data does not include any patient’s name or other private information.
Contact the following county and city health departments here:
Kansas City: 816-513-6008
Jackson County: 816-404-6415
Wyandotte County: 913-573-8855
Johnson County: 913-826-1200
What resources are available to me while I isolate?
In Wyandotte County, anyone who is quarantining due to COVID-19 can request a delivery of free food and hygiene supplies. Fill out this form to request assistance.
We’ll update this story if we hear about any other regions offering assistance with necessities to those in isolation.
Should I re-test for COVID-19?
It’s not necessary to re-test for COVID-19 after you have already tested positive and completed the recommended isolation and masking period. That’s because positive test results following a known infection aren’t a good indicator of how sick or contagious you are.
“The PCR test is very sensitive. It can pick up a very little amount of genomic material that may be there, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have active viral replication going on,” said Hawkinson. For this reason, doctors don’t recommend re-testing during or soon after your illness.
What should I do if my symptoms get worse?
The CDC recommends that those with COVID-19 should seek emergency medical care if they experience any of the following symptoms:
Trouble breathing
Persistent chest pain or pressure
New confusion
Inability to wake up or stay awake
Unusually pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds
If you are experiencing these or other symptoms that feel severe or worrisome, call 911 or seek medical care immediately.
“Based on the guidance from last week, [we have] the ability to bring back healthcare workers to work so that we are able to safely care for you or your loved ones when you come into the hospital,” said Dr. Hawkinson. “There’s no place that’s safer than the hospital.”
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Do you have more questions about staying safe from COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask our Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com or fill out the form below.
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