Kansas City-area contact tracers stay busy amid COVID-19 case surge

KC-area contact tracers stay busy amid COVID-19 case surge

IT'S NOT JUST THENUMBERS EXPERTS ARETRACKING...THEY'RE ALSO WATCHINGWHERE AND WHENTHESE CASES AREPOPPING UP.41 ACTION NEWSREPORTER ANDRESGUTIERREZ TALKED WITHTHE EXPERTS IN CHARGEOF FINDING HOTSPOTS INTHE KANSAS CITY AREA.Elizabeth Groenweghe/ChiefEpidemiologist/UnifiedGovernmentOf Kansas City, Kansas andWyandotte County/When you're getting 40 50,60cases reported in one day it ischallengingWITH COVID-19SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE,IT'S ALL-HANDS ON DECKSITUATION AT METROHEALTH DEPARTMENTS--...RESPONSIBLE FORTRACKING DOWN HOWAND WHERE INDIVIDUALSPOSSIBLY GOT INFECTED.ElizabethHolzschuh/epidemiologistJohnson County Department ofHealth and EnvironmentWe've seen such an increasethat the need has becomemuch more urgent for us tobring in additional staffIN MANY JURISDICTIONS,EPIDEMIOLOGISTS ARETHE "DISEASEINVESTIGATORS" WHOGATHER THE TRAVELHISTORY ON THOSEEXPOSED TO THECORONAVIRUS.A SECOND GROUP--THESO-CALLED "CONTACTTRACERS" ARE ALSO HARDAT WORKElizabethHolzschuh/epidemiologistJohnson County Department ofHealth and Environmentcalling all those individualsand appealing them askingthem some verystraightforward questionsmaking sure that they're notcurrently symptomaticTO ADEQUATELY HANDLETHE INFLUX OF CASES,JOHNSON COUNTY HASRELIED ON SCHOOLNURSES FOR THE LAST SIXWEEKS AS VOLUNTEER"CONTACT TRACERS" WHONOW FACE A NEW HURDLE.ElizabethHolzschuh/epidemiologistJohnson County Department ofHealth and Environmentduring the stay at home ordersindividuals weren't going outthey weren't socializing sotheir list of contacts of wherethey been was very limited tomostly just household but nowas we reopen ourcommunities and people aregoing out more or identifyingmore contacts more placesthey could've been spreadingthe virusAndres Gutierrez/Reporting/Area health departments areactively hiring more contacttracers they're also usingpharmacy and medicalstudents to help with theincrease in casesElizabeth Groenweghe/ChiefEpidemiologist/UnifiedGovernmentOf Kansas City, Kansas andWyandotte County/Because we never saw a realnoticeable and appreciabledecrease in the number ofcases that we've received youknow this is a continuation ofthe activity that we've beenseeing since AprilWITHOUT A VACCINE ANDSOCIAL DISTANCINGFATIGUE SETTING IN...THERE'S A SERIOUSCONCERN WHAT THEAMOUNT OF CASES WILLLOOK LIKE A MONTH FROMNOW.Elizabeth Groenweghe/ChiefEpidemiologist/UnifiedGovernmentOf Kansas City, Kansas andWyandotte CountyIt's kind of in tradition tohaveparties, barbecues, get-togethers on the Fourth of Julyweekend we would reallydiscourage that kind of activityif possible to help preventspread of COVID.IN KANSAS CITY.