West Virginia Bureau for Public Health changing COVID procedures

CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health has announced new guidance to local health departments about the end of universal case investigation and contact tracing after recommendations to do so by the Centers for Disease Control and other public health agencies were released.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved, so have public health mitigation strategies and guidance," the statement said.

"The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources' Bureau for Public Health continues to transition from universal case and contact tracing to a more strategic approach of targeted case investigations and outbreak investigations," the statement said. "This pivot is an important step as the pandemic moves toward becoming an endemic in West Virginia and the world."

For people who test positive for COVID-19, public health departments will promote self-care education to all positive cases, but will no longer conduct universal case investigation and contact tracing, release from quarantine or return to work letters, the statement said.

"Please follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance if you test positive or have been exposed to COVID-19," the statement said.

Health departments will be transitioning to doing more case and community education to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to those that need it. The large majority of the education that will be provided will be based on the CDC's quarantine and isolation guidelines at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html

For more information about what to do upon receiving a positive COVID-19 test, go to the link below or call the West Virginia Coronavirus Information line at 800-887-4304, which is available around the clock.

Effective immediately, health departments have been directed to no longer provide release letters for positive cases whether it is for employment or school purposes. Employers and schools are to treat positive COVID-19 returns like other sickness or illnesses.