The Sooner The Better: Contact Tracing Team Beginning Work At 1st Sign Of Symptoms
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The long waits for test results have made contact tracing a real challenge in South Florida. It's a crucial process to stop the spread of COVID-19, which is why one group is beginning its tracing work at the first sign of symptoms.
The sooner the better – that's the message of Larkin Community Hospital's contact tracing group.
"Those initial days of symptoms are probably the most infectious periods," said Dr. Jack Michel, who helped launch the volunteer effort.
Michel said it's because of that they're not waiting until a positive test result to begin contact tracing.
"They get symptoms, and then they wait to get tested, and then they wait for the results by the time we do contact tracing they've peaked at their most infectious time," said Dr. John Van Keppel.
Van Keppel said they changed their approach when they found they were getting in touch with people long after they've already been exposed.
"By the time the result is back, pretty much the contact tracing is irrelevant," he said.
It all goes through their website: covidfighterapp.com.
They encourage people as soon as they feel sick to log on and enter who they've been in contact with – meaning within two days of the start of symptoms, in an enclosed area, for more than 10 minutes. The trained volunteers take care of the rest.
"We do not say who exposed, or you know, who is the exposer. And then we advise them on quarantining and watching for symptoms," said Van Keppel.
They said there's been a lack of contact tracing overall since the pandemic started, which is why they're doing what they can.
CBS4 last spoke with the group about a month ago when they had 300 volunteers. Now, they have 1,500. They encourage more people and leaders to put greater emphasis on contact tracing.
About a month ago, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced a $14 million agreement for an extra 250 tracers in the county through the end of the year.
According to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, so far they've brought on 50.
