Contact tracing explained and how people are responding
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Contact tracing is a critical tool in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19, experts say.
“As we fight the spread of COVID-19, we need the ability to rapidly contact positive patients and their close contacts to determine who else might have been exposed,” Gov. Eric J. Holcomb said in a statement when Indiana first announced the state’s partnership with Maximus back in April.
Since that time, the Indiana State Department of Health has hired more than 600 contact tracers to ensure the state keeps pace with the demand, Megan Wade-Taxter from the department told News 8.
“Every positive case and contact who are identified helps to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in communities because it allows those people who are infected or exposed to take steps to ensure they don’t infect someone else,” Taxter said.
News 8 also reached out to Dr. Jennifer Forrestor, infectious disease specialist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Forrester spoke about the importance of the public’s cooperation, the nation’s willingness to participate as well as the ethics behind the practice.
To learn more, watch the video with this story.
