Contact tracing is about to change drastically in Massachusetts, with the state set to hand over responsibility to local health boards to track close contacts of people infected with COVID-19. The move essentially ends an ambitious state effort, announced in April 2020 by Gov’s Here’s how contact tracing works: When someone tests positive for COVID-19, a case investigator will talk to the infected person and will attempt to identify everyone she has been in close contact with The state has spent $137.2 million on contact tracing, a major investment in a process that continues to meet resistance from people who see it as an intrusion and wonder why it is even necessary. “We really struggle with community cases, getting compliance from individuals telling us their close contacts, even sometimes in their homes. They may not indicate that there are close contacts,” said Sigalle Reiss, Massachusetts Health Officers Association president and Norwood public health director Reiss said contact tracing is still effective in stopping the spread of the virus in settings like schools where close contacts can be easily identified and quarantines Currently, the city sends all of its cases to the Community Tracing Collaborative and assists those in schools.But now the state is phasing out the CTC, shifting the burden completely to local communities. finished by the end of the year.” Are you worried about being inundated with cases once the CTC stops accepting cases? ” Asked Mike Beaudet of the 5 investigators. “Certainly,” Reiss replied. “All of our staff have other jobs they did before the pandemic, and those plates are already full. So putting the pandemic on top of that puts us to the test very quickly. And I think that’s why the CLC was formed. “Even though the CTC workforce has been significantly reduced from its peak, data analyzed by 5 Investigates shows that the number of CTC contact tracers has rebounded in recent weeks due to concern over the Delta variant. As of January 10, 2021, the first date reported by the state, the state contract search workforce was 3,956. That dropped to a low of 175 in mid- and late August, and it rose to 576 as of October 19. The current seven-day average of new cases referred daily to the CTC is about 1,000, according to the state. The CTC also supports the exposure notification system of the ‘State, called MassNotify.The system allows users to report positive test results anonymouslyIt has been activated by 1.6 million people.Thanks to MassNotify, more than 82,000 people who tested positive received links to send alerts anonymous to other users, and about 9 000 of those links were used, according to the state. gave Norway ood and six other communities a grant that will allow them to hire and share an epidemiologist and two contact tracers, part of the $7.3 million in federal dollars awarded to local health departments so far who associate with neighboring communities. But they’re struggling to fulfill the “Unfortunately, I think we’re back to where we were before CTC started, and we haven’t really got a system in place to be able to manage it locally,” said Reiss. This is another reason to stimulate investment. in local and regional public health, according to Senator Jo Comerford, chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Public Health. She introduced a bill to improve the local and regional public health system to address disparities in the delivery of public health services. He is still making his way through the Legislative Assembly. “If we had a uniform set of public health standards, if we had uniform staff and/or some semblance of a stable, well-resourced structure. It would be much, much easier,” Comerford said. , D-Northampton. We asked Comerford if the $137 million the state spent on contact tracing was money well spent. “That’s a really good question,” she said. “I think in that regard in the CTC Partners in Health. Yes. And we needed contact tracing. We needed it in place in the middle of a pandemic when it was overwhelming us.” “The next question,” she added, “what would have happened if we had invested that $100 million plus into our local health boards, our local or regional health boards? Would we have been stronger coming out of that? And the answer is also, ‘Yes.'”
Contact tracing is about to change drastically in Massachusetts, with the state set to hand over responsibility to local health boards to track close contacts of people infected with COVID-19.
The move essentially ends an ambitious state effort, announced in April 2020 by Governor Charlie Baker, who created the Community Tracing Collaborative, or CTC.
Here’s how contact tracing works: When someone tests positive for COVID-19, a case investigator will speak to the infected person and try to identify everyone they have been in close contact with.
Close contacts are now advised to self-quarantine unless they are fully vaccinated and show no symptoms.
The state has spent $137.2 million on contact tracing, a major investment in a process that continues to meet resistance from people who view it as an intrusion and question why it’s even necessary.
“We really struggle with community cases, getting compliance from individuals who tell us their close contacts, even sometimes in their homes. They may not indicate that there are close contacts,” said Sigalle Reiss, president of the Massachusetts Health Officers Association and Norwood Public Health. director.
Reiss said contact tracing is still effective in stopping the spread of the virus in settings like schools where close contacts can be easily identified and quarantines can be enforced.
Currently, the city sends all of its cases to the Community Tracing Collaborative and assists those in schools.
But now the state is phasing out the CTC, completely shifting the burden to local communities. The transition should be completed by the end of the year.
“Are you afraid you’ll be inundated with cases once the CLC stops accepting cases?” 5 Inquiry Mike Beaudet asked.
“Certainly,” Reiss replied. “All of our staff have other jobs they were doing before the pandemic, and those plates are already pretty full. So putting the pandemic on top of that, it put a strain on us very quickly. And I think that’s why the CLC was formed.”
Even though CTC numbers have been significantly reduced from their peak, data analyzed by 5 Investigates shows that the number of CTC contact tracers has rebounded in recent weeks as concerns about the Delta variant have grown. As of January 10, 2021, the first date reported by the state, the state contract research workforce was 3,956. This figure fell to a low of 175 in mid-August and late August, and it rose to 576 by October 19.
The current seven-day average of new cases referred daily to the CTC is about 1,000, according to the state.
The CTC also supports the state’s exposure notification system, called MassNotify. The system allows users to anonymously report positive test results to others. It has been activated by 1.6 million people.
Through MassNotify, more than 82,000 people who tested positive received links to send anonymous alerts to other users, and about 9,000 of those links were used, according to the state.
The state awarded Norwood and six other communities a grant that will allow them to hire and share an epidemiologist and two contact tracers, part of the $7.3 million in federal dollars given to services so far. local health providers that partner with neighboring communities.
But they are struggling to fill positions.
“Unfortunately, I think we’re back to where we were before CTC started, and we haven’t really put a system in place to be able to manage it locally,” Reiss said.
That’s another reason to boost investment in local and regional public health, according to State Sen. Jo Comerford, Senate Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health. She introduced a bill to improve the local and regional public health system to address disparities in the delivery of public health services. He is still working his way through the legislature.
“If we had a uniform set of public health standards, if we had uniform staff and/or some semblance of a stable, well-resourced structure. It would be much, much easier,” said Comerford, D-Northampton.
We asked Comerford if the $137 million the state spent on contact tracing was money well spent.
“That’s a really good question,” she said. “I think in that regard in the CTC Partners in Health. Yes. And we needed contact tracing. We needed it in place in the middle of a pandemic when it was overwhelming us.”
“The next question,” she added, “would be what if we had invested that $100 million plus into our local health boards, our local or regional health boards? Would we have been stronger coming out of that? And the answer is also, ‘Yes.'”
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