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August 20, 2020
Answer the call to slow the spread
Department of Health Urges Virginians to Engage with Contact Tracers, Avoid Scams By Truman Braslaw VDH Public Information Officer
CONTACT TRACING: WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO SOMEONE WITH COVID-19
1
If you have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, a public health worker will call you to inform you that you may have been exposed to COVID-19.
Any information you share with public health workers is CONFIDENTIAL.
Health Department
This means that your personal and medical information will be kept private.
2 You should stay at home and self-quarantine for 14 days, starting from the last day you were possibly exposed to COVID-19.
3
Self-quarantine means staying home, monitoring your health, and maintaining social distancing (at least 6 feet) from others at all times.
The public health worker can provide information about COVID-19 testing in your area. If you need support or assistance with self-quarantine, your health department or community organizations may be able to provide assistance.
4
You should take your temperature twice a day, watch for fever and other symptoms of COVID-19, and notify your health department if you develop symptoms.
5
If you become ill during the 14 days of self-quarantine, you should notify the health department and seek medical care if your symptoms worsen or become severe. Emergency warning signs include trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, or bluish lips or face.
Answer the call
We can all work together to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
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Do your part to keep your family and your community safe: Answer the call to slow the spread. HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Beware of scams
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While all are encouraged to engage with legitimate contact-tracing calls, the VDH warns against scammers who take advantage of how the process works.
Contact tracing saves lives
Recognizing the signs of a scam is important. Contact tracers will not ask for money or information, like a Social Security number, bank account details or credit card numbers. Virginia does not charge people for contact-tracing services.
he Virginia Department of Health encourages all Virginians to respond and engage with legitimate contacttracing calls and emails while remaining vigilant against scams. The caller ID will read “VDH COVID Team.”
Virginia employs contact tracers to notify people who have been exposed to known cases of COVID-19. Contact tracers offer information, encourage people to monitor themselves for symptoms, and refer those who develop symptoms for medical evaluation and testing, to help contain the spread in Virginia. Contact tracing saves lives by preventing the spread of COVID-19, so every Virginian is encouraged to do their part and answer calls, texts or emails from the commonwealth’s contact tracers.
Contact tracers will offer to enroll Virginians in a voluntary, contact monitoring platform called Sara Alert, which people can use to update local health departments on their health status while they participate in public health monitoring. The Sara Alert system is secure and always contacts users from the same phone number or email: 844-957-2721 or notifications@ saraalert.org.
Use Your Phone to Fight COVID-19
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o help lead the way in the fight against COVID-19, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has launched COVIDWISE, the official COVID-19 exposure notification mobile app. Virginia will be the first state in the United States to deploy an exposure notification app using the Apple/Google Bluetooth Low
Energy framework. COVIDWISE will notify you if you’ve likely been exposed to another app user that shared a positive COVID-19 test result. Knowing your exposure history allows you to selfquarantine effectively, seek timely medical attention, and reduce potential exposure risk to others.
The app works by using random Bluetooth keys that change every 10-20 minutes. Phones with the app installed will anonymously share these random keys if they are within close proximity. The more Virginians who use the app, the greater the likelihood that you will receive timely exposure notifications that lead to
effective disease prevention. Join Fort Belvoir community to help slow the spread and #FighttheVirus. Alert friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues about COVIDWISE and share the download link. By working together, we can protect ourselves and our communities. Learn more: www.vdh. virginia.gov/covidwise
Physicals, immunizations required as school resumes By Paul Lara Belvoir Eagle
according to Lt. Col. Shaprina Williams, doctor, chief, Department of Pediatrics at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. “Immunizations are still important to prevent community spread of diseases we have a
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s families prepare for the beginning of a virtual school semester, a big part of that preparation is visiting with a pediatrician to get a health assessment and ensure that vaccinations are up to date,
Photo courtesy of American Academy of Pediatrics
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