Public Health Madison & Dane County

Posted on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020 at 8:09 am

One of the key strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is isolating those who are sick so they don’t spread the illness to others. This means not leaving home and staying in a separate room from others for at least 10 days, sometimes more. The impact of isolation can take a toll, both emotionally and financially.  

Support Leads to Success

We want to ensure that anyone who is isolated has the support and supplies needed to stay at home. When our contact tracers talk with people newly diagnosed with COVID-19, they provide isolation guidelines to follow, but they also ask what the person will need in order to make isolation successful. They may say they need homework or groceries delivered, for example. During this discussion, if financial needs are identified, we make arrangements to provide gift cards to support buying groceries or other essentials. To date, over 1,800 families have received this isolation support, funded through money Dane County received from the federal CARES Act.

Contact tracers also share our Helpful Resources and Community Resource webpages with those who require isolation, which offer information on resources available to pay rent, get food, or meet other basic needs.

Cooperation is Key

We have a dedicated team that works tirelessly to ensure that people in isolation have access to the resources they need in a timely manner. “It has been truly awesome to be able to provide direct money and local resources to families that are isolating. I think this is a good example of meeting the family’s needs in these uncertain times,” shared Natalie, a member of the Isolation Support team. These efforts don’t go unnoticed by some participating community members who express their appreciation to the program staff and gratitude for the support provided.

Isolation, along with contact tracing, are common public health practices that are part of controlling an infectious disease. The cooperation from those diagnosed with COVID-19 in isolating from others is crucial in limiting the spread of the virus. Without their cooperation, we would see more people test positive for the virus. We work with them to ensure their success by making sure they have all the community resources and financial support to help them through their isolation period in order to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community.