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Contact tracing to prevent the spread of coronavirus
Some of the most critical work in the battle against COVID-19 happens in small offices with people you may have never heard of. Christina Gonzalez is in Long Beach, to show us the never-ending labor of communicable disease controllers, who are tracking the epidemic.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - They have been following the COVID-19 epidemic since it was only known in China as the flu of unknown origins. Too quickly, it went from following to tracking the deadly virus by the City of Long Beach’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Take a look at what they do, and how they do it. A group of people in a small office, on the phone. You’d never know how critical their job is, just by looking at them. But they are tracking the virus, to find out who has been exposed, and how.
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They try to figure out who got sick and who they may have infected. It takes hundreds of old school phone calls, and old fashioned foot visits (although the latter are diminished, due to social distancing guidelines).
Ultimately, their information helps paint the pictures that allow them to understand the behavior and characteristics of this virus, and make us all safer.
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So, thanks to all those statisticians and workers at the surveillance centers in Health Offices all over, especially those in Long Beach, who allowed us in to take a peek and show you, what they are doing, and how important it is.