contact tracing

States Nearly Doubled Plans For Contact Tracers Since NPR Surveyed Them 10 Days Ago

8:51pm May 07, 2020

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

To safely reopen without risking new COVID-19 outbreaks, states need staff to do the crucial work of contact tracing. Public health agencies report they have aggressive plans to grow their workforce.

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Chart showing the daily trend of coronavirus testing in the U.S., compared to a new estimate of needed testing

Health & Safety

U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short. How's Your State Doing?

10:57am May 07, 2020

New estimates say the U.S. needs to triple its testing. But how much testing does each state need? Here's how states compare to each other, and to targets experts say they should hit.

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A coronavirus awareness sign around the U.S. Capitol encourages social distancing.

Health & Safety

Former CDC Official Warns Of 2nd COVID-19 Wave: Most Americans Are Still Susceptible

7:38pm May 06, 2020

by David Greene

Dr. Ali Khan, former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the CDC, discusses what the U.S. needs to do to soften the impact of a second wave of COVID-19.

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A woman walks past a vending machine that offers washable face masks in a Berlin subway station on Monday. German officials have said they will endorse a decentralized approach to coronavirus contact tracing.

Germany Backs Away From Compiling Coronavirus Contacts In A Central Database

7:11pm April 27, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

Privacy advocates had warned against Germany's plan to store cellphone-tracking information in a central database rather than on users' phones.

The job of contact tracing can involve detective work. During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, a hand-drawn map on the wall of a rural clinic in Liberia showed health workers how to get to a remote village where a woman with Ebola may have trave

How Do You Do Contact Tracing? Poor Countries Have Plenty Of Advice

11:16am April 22, 2020

by Jason Beaubien

As parts of the U.S. aim to move out of lockdown, a key tool to contain coronavirus cases will be contact tracing. It's something health workers in low-income countries have lots of experience with.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters stands in Atlanta. CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield says the agency will double the current number of positions to aid local health departments in quashing new outbreaks.

Health & Safety

CDC To Fund 650 Health Experts To Help States Trace, Stop COVID-19

7:24pm April 21, 2020

CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield says the agency will double the current number of positions to aid local health departments in quashing new outbreaks. They will focus on testing and contact tracing.

San Francisco's Coit Tower was lit up blue on April 9 as part of a nationwide tribute to health care workers and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

San Francisco Ramps Up Back-To-Basics Contact Tracing To Stop COVID-19

11:38am April 16, 2020

by Eric Westervelt

Citing concerns about privacy and civil liberties, the city's not relying on a smartphone app to track cases. Instead, it's recruiting public health staff, librarians and med students to make calls.

Is the U.S. getting close to being able to reopen, after weeks of social distancing? Experts say more work needs to be done ramping up systems like drive-through COVID-19 testing centers.

Health & Safety

What's It Going To Take To End The Shutdown? 5 Keys To Containing Coronavirus

9:46am April 16, 2020

Political leaders want to reopen the economy soon, but public health experts say we first need to set up systems to prevent new flare-ups of the coronavirus. Here's what needs to get done.

Public health experts say smartphone apps could augment the time-consuming work of tracking down people who have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Health & Safety

Getting Back To Normal: Big Tech's Solution Depends On Public Trust

1:33pm April 15, 2020

by Shannon Bond

Apple and Google are developing a tool that relies on Bluetooth signals, sent by smartphones, to let people know if they may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

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Contact tracing involves a painstaking process of identifying and reaching out to all of a COVID-19 patient's recent contacts. In Ireland, Irish Army cadets assist with the contact tracing work in Dublin.

Health & Safety

How Contact Tracing Works And How It Can Help Reopen The Country

10:41am April 14, 2020

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

It's a technique widely used in other countries to slow the spread of infection. Here's how contact tracing works — and how it can help the U.S. start to get back to normal.