CARBONDALE (WSIL)--Sorting out who's sick with COVID-19 and where they got it from is a daunting task for health officials in contact tracing.
Their timely searches help halt the spread.
Carbondale resident Joseph Val Behan tested positive for COVID-19 after someone he knew started exhibiting symptoms.
"There was a person that I had heard had a positive contact. And I knew for certain that I interacted with that person. 聽So I was immediately suspicious. And then when I started to feel symptomatic, I started to quarantine," Behan said.聽
Jackson County immediately went to work to try to piece together who he had contact with and how he could have been exposed to the virus.
The mystery hunt is called contact tracing, and聽their timely search helps halt the spread.聽
"It is very hard work but I do think it is also very rewarding. Again we are one piece of the puzzle that is helping to stop the spread of COVID," Jackson County Health Department Program Coordinator Lori Brummer said.聽
Health officials like Brummer are able to find potential carriers for COVID-19 more quickly, and help contain the spread.聽
"Timing is everything with COVID. And when I say that I mean when you get tested, we have to look at that timing. We need to look at how quickly you can get results. Then we need to look at how quickly we can contact those people and get results to them so we can start that contact tracing," Brummer said.聽聽
COVID-19 is extremely transmittable. And because so many people are asymptomatic, meaning they don't show signs of sickness, it's important to be vigilant.聽
"Treat everybody that you come in contact with like they're positive, because at this point it's community spread. The only thing we have control over is the decisions we make. 聽Which is 'am I gonna wear a mask?' 'Am I gonna social distance?' And I feel like we all have a personal responsibility," Brummer said.
Before the pandemic, Jackson Count had one contact tracer. Now they have 11 contact tracers working around the clock and on weekends to keep up with COVID-19.
