Louisiana Ramps up Contact Tracing
The state is ramping up COVID-19 contact tracing this month and that means you may be getting a call from a health official if you or someone close to you tests positive.
Governor Edwards says contact tracing is critical to stopping the spread of the virus.
“Individuals who have been in contact with others who are COVID positive will be asked to quarantine for 14 days,” says Edwards.
If you test positive Edwards says the state is going to want to get some information from you that could help identify other people you may have infected.
“Literally any one of us who tests positive could receive a call from a contact tracer to see where we may have been and who we may have exposed to the virus,” says Edwards.
Contact tracers will also be calling those who are considered close to known COVID positive individuals to inform them that they need to quarantine. Edwards lists a few of the people who may be called.
“Household members, intimate partners, any other individuals who have had close contact, which is defined as less than six feet, for a minimum of 15 minutes,” says Edwards.
(Story written by Matt Doyle/Louisiana Radio Network)