Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Contact tracers work to limit the spread
Joanne Rolon- Santiago was looking for something else to do.
She works part time as an outreach coordinator at Co- County Wellness Services, a community- based health care nonprofit organization in Reading. But that left her with some time to tackle something else.
When Co- County Wellness signed a contract in May to head up Berks County’s COVID- 19 contact tracing program, that something else popped up.
In part because she is bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English, RolonSantiago was asked if she wanted to be a contact tracer. She jumped at the chance, and her free time was suddenly filled up.
“I’ve definitely been very, very busy,” she said.
Rolon- Santiago is one of 25 contract tracers working for Co- County. They are tasked with reaching out to people in Berks who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID- 19.
It’s an important job, often held up by public health experts as one of the keys to fighting the spread of the pandemic. But what exactly does it entail?
The daily grind
The center of the contact tracer’s world is the daily call list.
Rolon- Santiago said each day she gets a list with between four and seven names on it. It is generated by state officials who collect a list of potential contacts for people who test positive for COVID- 19.
“I get a list with contacts that we need to reach out to in a timely manner,” she said. “I just start calling them.”
Rose Kershner, a 20- year old student from Exeter Township who has been working as a contact tracer remotely from Montclair State University in New Jersey, said she likes to get an early start on her calls.
“I try to do it first thing in the morning. I want to get them before they go out for the day,” she said.
The calls have several purposes. The first is to simply let people know they may have been exposed to COVID- 19.
“They’re usually pretty good knowing they were exposed, most are aware,” Rolon- Santiago said.
Kersher said a lot of the people she has contacted since she started working part time as a contact tracer in June also already know they’ve been in close contact with someone with COVID- 19. Or they’ve at least heard rumors that someone in their office or school had tested positive, meaning Kersher’s call isn’t particularly shocking.
Along with simply letting people know about potential exposure, contact tracers’ calls also provide important information.
“We’re helping them through the first steps, asking them about any symptoms they might have,” Kershner said. “We’re telling them they should quarantine for two weeks from when they were exposed.
“We’re just talking them through all of it. We’re asking them things like whether they have someone who can drop off groceries or prescriptions for them.”
Rolon- Santiago said she approaches the calls with an eye toward lending whatever support she can.
“I try to give reassurance,” she said. “Yes, there was an exposure, but here’s how we get past it. There’s just a lot of people who don’t understand this virus and are unsure of how to approach it.”
The final aspect of the calls is to get those who may have been exposed to COVID- 19 to take part in the state’s symptom monitoring system.
The state has a system where people can report symptoms by text message or email. Most people contacted by the tracers sign up for that, Kershner and Rolon- Santiago said.
“I’d say about 80% are using the reporting system,” Rolon- Santiago said.
If someone is uncomfortable with the system, they can also agree to let the contact tracers call them daily to check on their symptoms. RolonSantiago said she enjoys when people choose that option.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to know that you were able to check in on someone,” she said.
Kersher said she also likes making check- in calls.
“It’s nice. I’ve actually got to know some people through it,” she said.
Being able to provide that service makes Kersher feel like she’s doing her part to help the community, which is exactly why she signed up to be a contact tracer, she said.
“With this pandemic, you feel like you can’t really do anything,” she said. “This is something small that I can do. It feels good to be able to do something to help in the fight.”
The reception
Rolon- Santiago said that during the early days of the contact tracing program nearly everyone she called was receptive.
“In the beginning people were very cooperative,” she said. “People were asking questions and respecting what we were doing.”