The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines on who should be tested for the novel coronavirus, reiterating previous advice that all close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case should be tested as a presumed positive case.
Now, on the advice of a White House task force, the CDC says tests are only recommended for close contact of confirmed cases that feel sick.
Top health officials in Alaska say they have not heard of the changes in test guidelines until after the CDC website has been updated with the changes and that the state plans to stay its previous course in recommending anyone who’s. t near a confirmed COVID-19 positive was individual for more than 15 minutes to be tested, regardless of whether the person has symptoms or not.
Anyone confirmed to be within a 6-foot of a COVID-positive person for more than 15 minutes is also advised to be quarantined for 14 days, regardless of whether they experience symptoms.
Joe McLaughlin, Alaska’s chief epidemiologist, said he thought the CDC’s policy changes were based on people’s misunderstanding about testing time frames.
“One of the concerns raised with the previous guidance was that some people who were identified as close contacts for confirmed cases were tested during their quarantine period and mistakenly thought that a negative test result meant they could stop the quarantine early. “Unfortunately, we have seen this happen in Alaska as well,” McLaughlin wrote Thursday in an email to the Daily News Miner.
Unlike the new CDC guidance, McLaughlin still recommends that people be tested at some point in the second week of their 14-day quarantine, even if they have not developed symptoms.
“This helps to identify people who are infected, but asymptomatic to inform them about their infection and appropriate people in quarantine with whom they have been in close contact, such as family members,” he said. “It is important to emphasize, however, that people must remain in quarantine for the full 14 days, even if they test negative at some point during the quarantine period.”
Fairbanks-based Regional Public Health Manager Elizabeth Burton confirmed that local public health testing will continue as before.
A total of 336,220 tests have been conducted in the entire state to date.
Alaska’s decision to stay the course comes as 86 more people – 16 of them Fairbanks residents – test positive for COVID-19, health officials announced Thursday.
This brings the total number of residents of Fairbanks North Star Borough to test positive for the disease at 590. Not all of these residents were present in the township when they became ill or when they tested positive. The State Health Department groups case numbers on permanent residence of the individual who tests positive.
Anchorage residents made up an additional 43 of the cases reported Thursday. Sixteen individual cases were confirmed at the McLaughlin Youth Center in Anchorage in four staff members and 12 youths in treatment at the facility.
The other cases were distributed among Wasilla, Juneau, Palmer, Eagle River, Prince of Wales / Hyder census areas, Sitka, Soldotna, Wrangell, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area and Utqiagvik.
Two non-residents in Anchorage also tested positive, one visitor and one airline pilot.
These new cases bring the total number of state residents to test positive to 4,975 and nonresident case total to 826. Not all of these cases remain active.
The percentage of Alaskans recovering from COVID-19 is increasing compared to total cases in Alaska residents, health officials report, but there are still active cases recovered.
Data on the state health department show about 60% of state cases are active, although that percentage may be lower due to a backlog in data, according to Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. The percentage of active cases was closer to 70% last week.
With school activities such as sports starting, more individuals under the age of 19 have tested positive, including a high school football player at West Valley High School recently. However, the largest percentage of new cases is still reported in Alaskans from 20 to 39 years old.
Six more Alaskans have become ill enough to warrant hospitalization. Currently, there are 39 confirmed COVID-19 patients in the entire hospital and another four hospital patients who are being examined and awaiting test results.
Hospital beds used for patients with COVID-19 ranged from 32 to 45 last week, according to a weekly analysis report from the health care department.
No new deaths were reported Thursday.
Contact author Erin McGroarty at 459-7544. Follow her on Twitter: @FDNMpolitics.
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