Washington County has had 452 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 74 of those in the last two weeks, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Washington County has had 11 deaths due to COVID-19, and of the 452 confirmed cases 330 have recovered so far. As of Wednesday, 33 Washington School District students were absent due to exposure quarantine and 1-5 students and 1-5 staff members were absent after they had tested positive.

Washington County Public Health Director Danielle Pettit-Majewski explains what quarantine is, “Quarantine is what we do when we have a well person who has been exposed to somebody who has tested positive for COVID-19. The incubation period for the virus is 2-14 days. So, quarantine is 14 days from the last exposure to that positive person. And the reason we put somebody in quarantine, so away from other people, is so that if or when they become symptomatic, they aren’t then passing the virus on to other people. So, it’s a way to interrupt the virus spread in large groups.”

When someone has been placed in quarantine, public health officials encourage them to stay home and maintain distance away from their family because people are contagious for 48 hours before exhibiting symptoms. She says people are discouraged from getting a test right away after an exposure if they are not exhibiting symptoms because the virus likely hasn’t incubated long enough to show up on the test, “You cannot test out of quarantine. Because, like I said, the incubation period is 2-14 days and it’s kind of a bell curve. Most people don’t show symptoms two days in, most people don’t take 14 days. Most people you see symptoms right in the middle. So, really depending on where you are, and who you are, and how your body is processing, you could show symptoms anywhere in that period. So, the reason we say 14 days is because there is still the option that at the end of that two weeks, you could still start showing symptoms.”

If people remain symptom free during the 14-day quarantine a test is not required.

Washington County’s 14-day positivity rate as of Thursday was 8.1%. Statewide as of Thursday, there have been 83,357 confirmed cases, 1,300 deaths, and 61,473 people have recovered. People are urged to wash their hands frequently, social distance, stay home when ill, and wear face masks in public where social distancing can’t be maintained.