Immediate Release                                          Nancy Sacquitne RN, BSN

September 8, 2021, 1400 hours                      nsacquitne@winneshiekhealth.org

Winneshiek County Joint Covid-19 planning committee update:

Due to the increasing numbers of requests for Covid-19 testing, the committee would like to share some of the available sources in our county.

Over the counter test kits are available but very limited supply at Walmart and Thrifty White pharmacies. These tests are done in your home but unfortunately, the state and the county do not receive any reports if, they are positive. We are requesting that you notify your healthcare provider if you do test positive so that further education and follow-up may be done.

The Test Iowa at-home Saliva kits are reported to local public health and the state as those tests are sent to the state hygienic lab. These results are not rapid and may take 2-3 days to get results dependent on when it arrives at the state lab.

All these tests are to ONLY be used for persons exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19 or known exposures to a positive case. You need to remember to isolate after doing the tests until known results. If symptomatic, you should be staying home and having others pick up the kits. These kits are NOT FOR ROUTINE TESTING or SURVEILLANCE. Please test 3-5 days after exposures.

Winneshiek Medical Center will provide COVID-19 swabbing on Saturday, September 11 and Sunday, September 12 from 8:00 – 11:00 am.  Appointments for weekend swabbing are required and can be made by calling 563-382-2911 between 7:30 am – 10:30 am on either day.

COVID-19 swabbing also continues to be available Monday-Friday during business hours by calling 563-382-2911.

If you are a patient of Gundersen Health Systems, call 563-382-3140 to be further evaluated for possible testing if needed.

COVID-19 swabbing also continues to be available Monday-Friday during business hours by calling 563-382-2911.

A reminder that only persons who are severely immunocompromised and meet specific criteria are eligible to receive their 3^rd dose. The remaining public is NOT to be receiving any boosters currently. Please monitor for further announcements after booster information that will be shared from Iowa Department of Public Health.

The committee is recommending vaccination to all our residents and to follow CDC recommendation of masking. We are hearing of more tragic news of young unvaccinated adults in their 30’s to 50’s who contracted Covid-19 and died of complications leaving behind young children.

Please don’t become one of those statistics, protect yourself and your family by being vaccinated. There is plenty of vaccine available.

Did you know?

Health authorities know that the immune response from vaccination for COVID-19 is actually more robust than from natural immunity.

This is which is why Public Health and other healthcare providers recommend that people get vaccinated even if they have had COVID before.

The other thing with natural immunity versus vaccine immunity is that having some level of vaccine

immunity will help your body develop antibodies faster if you are ever exposed to a case and become ill

yourself, therefore shortening your illness and reducing the severity, whereas if you had no immunity

going into the infection, your body will have to start from scratch and therefore will potentially fare far

worse (as we are seeing now with unvaccinated folks making up most of our hospitalizations and

deaths).

Covid-19 vaccines are still available at your local Public Health office, healthcare providers, and local pharmacies.

Call and get vaccinated!!!  Call 563-382-4662 to set up appointment today.