SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ As California hurries to reopen stores, offices, restaurants and more, another rush is on behind-the-scenes.
State health officials have launched an unprecedented effort to train thousands of front-line, county-level workers to act as a firewall to stop the coronavirus from roaring back this fall.
Commonly known in the public health world as communicable-disease "contact tracers," this ad hoc group will serve as community strike teams in each county, working on tight deadlines to stop individual infections from turning into major outbreaks.
When someone tests positive for COVID-19, the tracing team will interview that person, find out who they have been in close contact with, then quickly call each of those people to tell them they have been exposed to the virus and to instruct them to take a coronavirus test. If tests come out positive, individuals will be asked to stay home for two weeks, and the whole cycle begins again. Some counties, though, will simply instruct the person to self-quarantine without taking the test.
It means cold-calling people who may be frightened or distrustful of the government. Some will likely hang up when they hear who's on the other line.
Health experts say contact tracers, combined with more robust testing, are the necessary one-two punch that will hold the virus at bay as the economy reopens.
"The more human interaction we're having, the higher risk for transmission," Yolo County public health director Brian Vaughn said. "The ability to test and track those who are in contact (with infected people) is critical for it not to blow up again."
It's a tightrope walk over potentially lethal terrain. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health officials say they are confident the process can help slow a spread of the virus.
But they also have their fingers crossed.
