As COVID-19 testing expands in Central Illinois, so does the contact tracing efforts to identify more positive cases.
Peoria City/County Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson said that laborious tracing work falls upon local health departments as more expanded testing sites open around Peoria.
"You wanna make sure you have the capacity for testing, as well as the capacity for traceback and contact tracing," she said. "Because when you open it up like this, one of the key things that happens is that when you identify someone, you want to be able to identify them fast and all of their contacts quickly."
Contact tracing involves finding out who's at risk after contact with a positive COVID-19 patient within two days before they first began to present symptoms. Those at highest risk include family members, significant others, or roommates who live with the person infected. Hendrickson said people present at the grocery store at the same time as a positive COVID-19 case would be considered low-risk, at most.
The Tri-County health departments are collaborating on contact tracing. Employees who once performed food inspections or other duties now in less demand due to the stay-at-home order are now using those talents for contact tracing. But as the economy begins reopening, those employees will have to go back to their regular duties.
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