The first message is a head’s up.
Someone in the building has tested Covid positive and is off to quarantine.
“You will be contacted by an official in the health authority is there is potential that you were in contact with someone while they were contagious. Carry on until then.”
Potential: having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.
You know, like how two people in a building have the potential to pass one another, greet one another, use the same facilities, sit in the same chairs, use the same keyboards, sit next to one another at lunch, even though you don’t know them and they don’t know you. You’d identify them how?
I think the more accurate message would be “You will be contacted by an official in the health authority is there is likelihood that you were in sustained contact with someone while they were contagious.”
Let’s be real. Potential is everywhere. Give us the hope of less likelihood!
Several hundred people wait in our masks with bated breath, wondering who will be the ‘lucky’ winner of a lottery worthy of Shirley Jackson.
Pandemic adventures as we attempt to surf the second wave.
Shawn L. Bird 
Aargh! I hear you – potential vs. likelihood makes a difference. I just learned that someone I saw a week ago has tested positive for Covid-19. Since there’s no way to be certain when she contracted the virus, there’s potential that I was exposed, though the likelihood is fairly small, given the precautions we both took while we were in shared space. Nevertheless, I have scheduled a test at the earliest available time (Monday morning) and am self-isolating until I get the results. Lots of waiting in limbo with this pesky virus. 😦
Here’s hoping we both get some good news, and soon.