Health Department Launches COVID-19 Hotline
For immediate release
Health Department launches COVID-19 hotline
Fort Wayne (January 7, 2022) – The Allen County Department of Health has strategized in real-time during each COVID-19 surge over the past two years to determine the most effective ways to utilize resources to conduct contact tracing for positive cases.
That necessary work continues, as we have seen recent daily caseloads nearly twice the amount of past record-setting days. With the sudden increase in cases and the expectation that numbers will continue to increase, the Allen County Department of Health will no longer be able to contact each person who tests positive for COVID-19.
“We feel that we can provide more effective and targeted guidance to help a larger number of people by opening a COVID-19 hotline for residents if they need assistance, resources or have any other questions related to COVID-19,” said Erika Pitcher, Community Health and Case Management Services Director.
The hotline – (260) 449-4499 – is open to answer questions related to COVID-19, including:
- Guidance on what to do if you tested positive
- Guidance on what to do if you were exposed to someone who tested positive
- Securing a work/school note for those with positive lab test results
- Contact tracing assistance to day cares and preschools
- Assistance with outbreaks in workplaces, on sports teams, at churches, etc.
- Guidance for those with positive results on at-home tests
- Help with finding COVID-19 testing, vaccination and treatment sites
The hotline will be open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Those with positive tests might also receive calls or texts from Indiana Department of Health contact tracers, and we encourage the public to respond to those communications.
If local COVID-19 cases decrease to a manageable level, the Allen County Department of Health will reassess the contact tracing program to determine how best to meet the needs of the public.