On the phone, contact tracers try to limit coronavirus spread
“I would just say please answer that call. This can help them find clusters of cases.”
— Shandy Dearth, IU epidemiology professor
Contact tracers have been used to track down those sick with diseases including HIV, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, and now COVID-19.
Described as “huntergatherers,” their job is to call those with positive COVID-19 lab results and anyone they may have exposed.
That means looking over a “timeline” for the past two weeks where an infected person has been — who lives in their house, where they work, where go to worship, if they’ve been to a July 4th party, for example. But just because a person tests positive is no guarantee they’ll help.
“We can’t force people to give information,” said a contact tracer who asked that her name not be used.
The focus is on close contacts, or people who were within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 10 minutes or so. Those people would then be asked to self-isolate, monitor themselves for symptoms and get tested if needed.
Sometimes that leads back to places like churches, day cares, factories, meat processing plants, restaurants, gyms, salons, sports teams, or doctor and dentist offices. Once contacted, the state then can follow up via texts, letters, emails.
The Indiana State Department of Health estimates 80% of those contacted are actually cooperative, said Shandy Dearth, an epidemiology professor at Indiana University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health.
If someone with a positive result can’t be contacted within 48 hours, that case is typically sent to a local county health department, she said.
Earlier, Indiana announced it would hire 500 people to work as contact tracers, taking over for local county health departments since May 11, working remotely from home.
Contact tracing is done in a variety of ways around the world. But a common issue is that determining who a person has been around can get harder as gatherings with friends and family resume and as bars, restaurants and other places groups of people gather.
The state’s $43 million contract is for a year with Virginia-based Maximus, which provides services for health care and other programs for many states and the federal government.
“ISDH has hired more than 600 contact tracers through its partnership with Maximus and has the ability to scale up as demand warrants,” Indiana State Department of Health spokeswoman Jennifer O’Malley said.
After an initial wave of cases slammed nursing homes, Indiana is seeing cases on the rise again, this time among younger people.
Indiana reported more than 700 new cases Thursday and Friday, with more than 54,000 to date.
More than 2,600 have now died from the virus, with nearly 200 more suspected due to COVID-19.
Through Friday, Lake County reported 5,983 COVID-19 cases and 252 deaths, according to the state.
Adjacent Porter County was at 926 cases and 39 deaths, the health department there said.
The National Association of County and City Health Officials advised states in April to hire 30 tracers per 100,000 people preparing them for a “surge” in cases. For Indiana, with 6.7 million residents, that would mean 2,000 tracers needed.
“I think it would be great if they could hire some more,” Dearth said, while noting Indiana ranks near the bottom in U.S. public health spending, while county health departments are typically “greatly understaffed.”
That role may become more challenging as many schools restart next month, if they lead to more outbreaks. Lake County is still the state’s second largest hotspot with half of its deaths linked to long-term care facilities.
Lake County Commissioners said Wednesday they only recently learned the county health department needed more resources to combat the virus. There was grant funding set aside for labor costs, like hiring contact tracers, and other needs, like a fixed testing site, Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said.
Meanwhile, people can help themselves by getting a flu shot this fall, especially if a second COVID-19 wave comes, and by picking up the phone from a strange number, officials said.
“I would just say please answer that call,” Dearth said. “This can help them find clusters of cases.”