Governor John Bel Edwards is expected to give a more in-depth look into the state’s COVID-19 contact tracing procedures during his Friday afternoon briefing with the media. Edwards says the state is hiring 700 workers to help with contact tracing, which is the process of figuring out who a coronavirus patient may have exposed
“They then start calling the individual who has tested positive and try to figure out for that time period when the individual who was positive became contagious until that conversation, ‘Who have you been in close contact with?'” said Edwards.
The contact tracers will work under the supervision of epidemiologists at three different call centers.
Edwards says after talking with a COVID-19 patient, a tracer will connect with anyone that may have been in contact with the patient for further questioning.
“Do you have symptoms? If so, you really need to go get a test. If you don’t have symptoms, understand you may have been exposed to someone and therefore you really need to spend about 14 days by yourself,” said Edwards.
Edwards says as the state engages more of the economy, there will be more person to person contact even with mitigation efforts in place, so it is contact tracing is vital in catching cases early before a further spread.
“The way you keep a lid on cases and try to get to that R0 (R-naught) of below one, even though you’ve reengaged the economy is through testing and contact tracing,” said Edwards.
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