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Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020

Has contact tracing failed to slow the coronavirus in the US?

Christopher Hutton, Gigafact
yes

The U.S. has fallen well short of goals for using contact tracing to identify and isolate people who may have been unknowingly exposed to the coronavirus. In combination with efficient testing, contact tracing has been an important tool in East Asia and parts of Europe in braking the spread of the virus.

In June 2020, the director of the Centers for Disease Control said health authorities employed about 78,000 contact tracers, against a potential need of up to 300,000. As infections surged in July, delays in reporting test results limited the early-warning value of efforts in some states. Needs in some places ran well ahead of capacity, with many locales reporting breakdowns. Funding for sustaining or expanding current efforts is uncertain.

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