JACKSON COUNTY (WSIL) -- Health officials say if you come in contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive, you should quarantine immediately.
If you do test positive for COVID-19, you should go into isolation.
However, while you are waiting to get tested and waiting for results, you should remain quarantined as a precaution.
Now, once you have quarantined, the Jackson County Health Department recommends waiting to get tested until 5-7 days after contact if you do not show COVID-19 symptoms.
If you do show symptoms, go ahead and get tested.
It is important to wait those 5-7 days after exposure to get tested because you could test negative before those 5-7 days, and test positive after that week is up.
"If somebody calls you and tells you you're a close contact, the best thing to do would be to immediately start quarantining, and wait for that call from the health department. If you don't get it, then you may not have been named. And then you can always reach out to the health department and say 'hey I have a friend who was positive who I was around, I need some information,'" said Paula Clark, Division Director at the Jackson County Health Department.
Jackson County Health officials also say that if you think you needed to be tested, you should begin to quarantine as a precaution.
The health department say if you do test positive for COVID-19, do not be surprised if you continue to test positive for up to three months.
It is believed those who test positive have immunity up to 90 days and you can also still test positive during that time.
As long as you wait for your isolation release from the health department, you should be ready to leave isolation.
