GA Public Health Workers Boost Contact Tracing Of Coronavirus

GEORGIA — The Georgia Department of Public Health is increasing its workforce to expand contact tracing for COVID-19 in Georgia. Contact tracing is used to identify and mitigate hotspots of infection to help prevent further spread of the virus.

Currently, about 250 contact tracers are deployed throughout the state. To date, more than 3,800 individuals testing positive for COVID-19 have been contacted and nearly 13,000 contacts identified.

In partnership with the CDC Foundation, a deployment coordinator and a training and learning coordinator have joined the Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 response team. Together these individuals will oversee the training and deployment of hundreds of contact tracers being hired by the department. They will work closely with the 18 public health districts to ensure operational issues and staffing needs are addressed, and that performance metrics established by the Department of Public Health and district leadership are met.

The Department of Public Health’s goal is to have over 1,000 contact tracers within weeks to strengthen its contact tracing efforts. Training is underway for 200 new contact tracers and 70 medical students and Masters in Public Health candidates who joined the Department of Public Health in the past two weeks.

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This comes after Georgia reported more than 1,500 deaths from the coronavirus. As of Thursday afternoon, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 1,527 deaths from COVID-19.

The latest Georgia numbers also show 35,858 confirmed cases, with 1,513 ICU admissions, 6,345 hospitalizations and 285,881 tests. That's an increase of 613 cases, 47 deaths and 33 more ICU admissions since Wednesday afternoon.

The counties with the most confirmed cases are all either in or near metro Atlanta: Fulton with 3,621 cases and 158 deaths; DeKalb with 2,644 cases and 74 deaths; Gwinnett with 2,532 cases and 101 deaths; Cobb with 2,334 cases and 128 deaths; and Hall with 2,119 cases and 37 deaths.

Along with the additional contact tracers, the Department of Public Health is introducing a new online monitoring tool developed by Google/MTX to make contact tracing more efficient. Once a COVID-19 case is identified, public health staff work with that individual to help them recall everyone they have had close contact with and where they went while they may have been infectious. Contacts identified during this interview will be called by trained Department of Public Health staff indicating that they have been exposed to COVID-19 and asking them to enroll in the Department of Public Health symptom monitoring and informing them that they must self-quarantine for 14 days after the exposure.

The web-based portal allows identified contacts to easily answer questions about their health and their symptoms related to COVID-19. If the contact reports symptoms, the system will prompt the individual to call 911 if they are in a medical emergency or to consult with their healthcare provider if they are sick and need medical care. Individuals with mild symptoms who do not need medical care will then be provided information on how to schedule COVID-19 testing.

Contacts will receive a daily text message for 14 days reminding them to report if they have symptoms through the monitoring tool, and they will also receive information about what to do if they are or become sick. Individuals who do not report daily will be contacted by the Department of Public Health. For people who do not wish to use the online system or receive texts, they can call the Department of Public Health directly to report their symptoms.

Confidentiality is critical to the success of contact tracing. Contact tracing in Georgia is completely confidential – the identity of the person who tests positive and the information on those who might have been exposed will not be shared. Georgia’s contact tracing does not use GPS or Bluetooth technology to track movements. The monitoring tool does not collect any data other than what is entered by the contact.

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