The person heading up the state’s coronavirus contact tracing program says initial reports from the field indicate successful connections are being made. Mark Carter gave an online presentation Monday to the Kentucky Primary Care Association.
Once a positive COVID-19 case is determined, contact tracers reach out to those who recently interacted with the infected person. Carter said more data about contacts should be available in time. “In the coming weeks we should have better data on percentage of successful contacts, what the dispositions were, those kinds of things. But, we’re just early in the process at this point,” said Carter.
Carter noted local health departments already had more than 400 disease investigators and contact tracers before coronavirus. Carter said the state has added another 210. “We continue to hire every day. We have funding through the CARES Act for up to 700 additional contact tracers, so we could go from 210 up to 700 depending on how the virus presents over the coming months,” explained Carter.
Susan Dunlap, with the State Cabinet for Health and Family Services says the state is following models recommending tracers per population of 10,000. She says there should be enough contact tracers as long as citizens responded appropriately when contacted and follow other recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
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