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Like many of you, I usually let unfamiliar phone numbers go straight to voice mail.\u00a0 But, these days we should all be a little more lenient on that \u2013 or at least check your voicemail frequently!\u00a0 That\u2019s because you never know when that phone call may be from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department contact tracers calling with COVID-19 information critical to your health.<\/p>\n
For several months, a growing team of individuals armed with phones and phone numbers has been working with COVID-positive individuals to retrace their steps and compile a list of potentially infected friends, family members and co-workers.<\/p>\n
You can imagine the sensitivity involved in reaching out to unsuspecting people to let them know they may have been exposed to the virus. However, these people are critical to slowing the virus and lessening its spread in our community.<\/p>\n
In the last week, the contact tracing team of about 65 people reached out to more than 6,000 County residents to offer support and services, as well as encouragement to get tested and potentially quarantine.<\/p>\n
I had the chance to visit them this week. It\u2019s a challenging job \u2013 made more difficult by navigating three separate State Department of Health computer systems. I was impressed by the variety of people doing this work, from teachers to recent college graduates (from a public health program), and from twenty-somethings to retirees.\u00a0 The one thing they all had in common \u2013 a desire to help our community get through this pandemic!<\/p>\n
You can learn more about contact tracing and the people behind those phone calls in this video:<\/p>\n