No ‘trace’ of protest questions

The city’s coronavirus contact tracers aren’t asking infected people if they’ve attended George Floyd protests over concerns that the topic could be “alienating,” according to City Hall officials.

The tracers, hired by the de Blasio administration to track people who have tested positive for COVID-19, are instructed to not ask directly about the protests because such questions could backfire and cut an interview short, said, one official.

“To ensure we are able to have as many people engage with their tracers as possible, we do not want to ask questions that may risk alienating them,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal protocols.

Avery Cohen, a spokesman for Mayor de Blasio, suggested it also doesn’t do much good to know whether an infected person attended a large demonstration.

“Tracing relies on a person’s ability to identify and share information regarding close contacts. This is not always possible in a large, anonymous environment like a protest,” Cohen said.

The matter was first reported by The City.

Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University Hospital, said she can understand the logic for tracers to be sensitive toward politically fraught subjects like the protests over Floyd’s death.

“But it also seems like this could be missing an opportunity to gather valuable information,” she said.

The decision is also contrasted against fretting from de Blasio and other elected officials that the protests could cause a new COVID-19 outbreak in the city.

While tracers won’t bring up the protests unprompted, they will make note if the topic comes up organically in conversation, said the official who spoke anonymously.

“Over the course of their interview with a tracer, a person may be asked if they were in a large crowd or event in recent weeks,” the person said.