Six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Stoddard County

The Stoddard County Health Department has confirmed three new cases of COVID-19 in Stoddard County, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to six. All are in quarantine at their respective homes. The health department is working to contact individuals the new patients may have come into contact with.

Stoddard County Health Center Director Ben Godwin has released the criteria required for an employee to return to work.

There are two recommended options that employees will have to meet before returning to work after a COVlD-19 illness.

The first option is a non-test-based strategy. The employee will be excluded from work until:

At least three days (72 hours) have passed since recovery. Recovery is defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) and at least seven days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

The second option is an test-based strategy. The employee will be excluded from work until:

Resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath).

The employee must receive negative results of an FDA Emergency Use Authorization molecular assay for COVID-19 from at least two consecutive nasopharyngeal swab specimens collected 24 hours apart (total of two negative specimens).

If an employee was never tested for COVID-19 but has an alternative diagnosis (e.g., tested positive for influenza), criteria for return to work would be based on that diagnosis.