Contact Tracing in Ohio

If you have a COVID-19 test, you must sign a form giving permission to send the test result to your state Dept. of Health. All positive test results are assigned to a paid government “contact tracer,” who will phone you. Your phone should display “COVID TEAM” on the caller ID, and if you choose to ignore the call, a contact tracer may appear at your door. You will be ordered to stay at home for 14 days, and take multiple coronavirus tests until you are symptom-free and have a negative coronavirus test. The contact tracer will also ask you to reveal the names and contact information of anyone with whom you’ve recently had close contact (who was within 6 feet of you for at least 15 minutes). All contacts will have to stay home for 14 days. You will be told to send photos of the rooms inside your home to assure you have the government’s designated number of bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. If not, you’ll be advised to move to a hotel to isolate yourself. Your children will be removed by child protective services if you have no spouse or family to care for them. Even your dog is not permitted to have contact with you. You and your contacts could potentially endure multiple episodes of such quarantines and house arrest, writes Kristine Severyn, Ph.D., R.Ph. (https://tinyurl.com/y4462yuy).