I have been in contact with a sick person, what should I do?

The famous "contact case" is at the heart of the debates, it is therefore essential to take stock of the rules to be followed in a system which is constantly evolving.

The progression of the epidemic in France generates a number of questions, especially in terms of isolation following contact with a patient. By listening to the latest data to be respected, everyone can be lost. Latest news: Prime Minister Jean Castex announced in his speech on Friday September 11 the reduction of the isolation period to seven days. In addition, laboratories "will reserve certain time slots" for people who have symptoms, for those who have been in close contact with a positive case and for caregivers. But what does it really have to do?

A quésaco "contact case"?

According to Medicare, this is a person who, "in the absence of effective protective measures throughout the duration of the contact (hygiaphone or other physical separation such as a window; surgical mask or FFP2 worn by the case or by the contact person; general public mask manufactured according to the Afnor standard or equivalent worn by the case and the contact person) has shared the same place of life as the confirmed or probable case / has had direct contact with a case, face to face, within 1 meter, regardless of the duration (ex . conversation, meal, flirtation, hugs, hugs). On the other hand, people crossed in the public space in a fleeting manner are not considered as contact persons at risk / provided or received acts of hygiene or care / shared a confined space (office or meeting room, personal vehicle …) for at least 15 minutes with a case, or having remained face to face with a case during several episodes of coughing or sneezing / is a student or teacher in the same school class (kindergarten, primary, secondary, group tutorials at the university)."

Get tested and isolate yourself

In the event of one or more of the symptoms (cough, fever, runny nose, or even loss of taste or smell), you should contact your doctor, who will refer you to screening or not. If so, you get priority. Even without these ailments, you can still carry the virus. As Le Parisien reminds us, if you have been around someone positive for Covid-19, you must isolate yourself and take a test, 5 to 7 days later, this corresponds to the incubation period. Isolation serves to "avoid infecting loved ones and others even when you have no signs of the disease. Indeed, it is possible to be contagious 48 hours before the onset of signs, or to be infected without having any signs of the disease.", explains Medicare.

If an infected person gives your name, Medicare will contact you immediately. This will encourage you to isolate yourself and take a test. In the laboratory, the "contact person" must present "an identity document which will allow the laboratory to find its name in the directory of contact persons. The test is 100% supported."

Does the patient live under the same roof as you? Medicare declares that "rester isolated and wait at least 7 days after the last contact with the sick person before doing the test. It is unnecessary to do this before this date, because if it is done too early it can be negative even if you are infected (incubation phase). Once the test has been carried out, one should remain isolated until the result."

Test results

If the test is positive, you should contact your doctor, if you have not already done so, and follow his instructions. Health Insurance will call you directly for "identify the people with whom she has been in close contact without a mask (people living under the same roof, office colleagues, etc.).
Isolation should last at least 7 days and stop after the last symptoms have resolved, and no earlier than 48 hours after the fever has resolved.
"

If the test is negative, "household members who are not separated from the case must remain in isolation until the patient is cured and another 7 full days thereafter. In a contact person at risk, the isolation period is 7 full days in the event of a negative RT-PCR test, 7 days after the last contact with the case. "

FranceInfo has produced a graph to better understand what are the rules to follow in this vagueness of the priority test or not.

The quest to get tested

After all these explanations, another problem appears: the delays to obtain an appointment and to have its result … "I have been in contact with a sick person and it is terrible, we do not understand anything, no site gives the same information, we have been told that the social security text can take a very long time to arrive, and the tests walk-ins require waiting for hours; I don't know how people who cannot telework, for example!", tells us Mathilde, a Parisian in her thirties.

Thus, before going to take a test in a laboratory, it is therefore necessary to have concrete ideas (to be reviewed in the article) that make you think of the virus, otherwise abstain.

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Video by Loïcia Fouillen