Local governments 'overwhelmed' in race to trace U.S. COVID contacts
The soaring number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has far outstripped many local health departments’ ability to trace the contacts of those infected, a step critical in containing the virus’ spread.
With the pandemic claiming about a thousand American lives a day, many city and county departments say they lack the money and staff to expeditiously identify people who have been exposed, according to a Reuters survey of 121 local agencies, as well as interviews with dozens of state and local officials, epidemiologists and tracers.
The United States badly lags other wealthy countries in contact tracing, including South Korea and Germany, which ramped up their programs months ago. Contributing to the faltering U.S. response is the government’s failure to provide accurate and timely diagnostic testing, something other countries were able to roll out much faster and more broadly.
On Alabama’s hard-hit Gulf Coast, health department staffers are stretched so thin they are directing individuals who test positive to notify any contacts themselves, said Rendi Murphree, director of Mobile County’s Bureau of Disease Surveillance and Environmental Services.
“Everything is overwhelmed,” she said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-tracing-specialrep/special-report-local-governments-overwhelmed-in-race-to-trace-u-s-covid-contacts-idUSKCN2501GK
Trump's lack of leadership and self-serving ignorance is killing thousands and thousands of people.
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