BCHHS Public Health Provider Alert: Duration of isolation - important update to CDC guidance

July 21, 2020

Lab-confirmed cases in Buncombe County residents continue to rise significantly on a daily basis. Our staff is doing their best to try to keep up, but the volume is overwhelming our capacity at this time, so there is a delay in case investigations. We are working on hiring and training additional case investigators, but expect continued delays in the short-term if the volume of new cases continues at this level.

  •          Please be sure to provide the handout “Steps for People to Take After COVID-19 Testing”, available in English, Spanish and Russian, to those who are tested so they know what they should be doing before and after getting their test results.
    •    The state will likely be updating those documents soon with the new isolation guidance detailed below.

Visit the state’s dashboard for the most up-to-date state and county COVID data. Last week, the percent of tests coming back positive in county residents increased to 5% (up from 2% in early July and 4% the week prior), meaning there continues to be increasing spread of COVID in our communities.

Please continue to encourage everyone to follow the 3 W’s when they leave their home – Wear a cloth face covering. Wait 6 feet apart from others. Wash hands often or use hand sanitizer. These simple, but powerful preventive measures are the key to our success.

This global pandemic remains an ever-changing situation. Please continue to check the CDC and NC DHHS websites for more information.

Contact the Buncombe County Communicable Disease staff at 828-250-5109 (available 24/7) or the NC Division of Public Health epidemiologist on-call line at 919-733-3419 (available 24/7) for additional consultation about COVID-19 or other public health concerns.

Thank you for all you are doing to help our communities during this pandemic,

Jennifer Mullendore, MD, MSPH

(she/her/hers)

Health & Human Services,

Medical Director &

Interim Health Director

p. (828) 250-6308  c. 828-989-6145

40 Coxe Ave. - Asheville, NC 28801

Respect. Honesty. Integrity. Collaboration. Equity.