St. Clair County will serve as Illinois coronavirus contact tracing pilot program
The St. Clair County Health Department will serve as a pilot program in a statewide COVID-19 contact tracing program, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday.
Contact tracing is critical to slowing the spread of coronavirus as researchers develop treatment and a vaccine, health department officials have said. A contact tracer reaches out to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 to make sure they understand and have the resources they need to self-isolate. A tracer then reaches out to anyone who came into contact with that person to inform them and encourage them to self-isolate.
“With Illinois’ daily availability of testing among the best in the nation, we want to grow our voluntary contact tracing so we can further control and reduce the rate of spread of COVID-19 and stop outbreaks in their tracks,” Pritzker said during his daily news briefing in Chicago.
St. Clair County’s existing contact tracing efforts were chosen for the statewide pilot program because of its need to serve “vulnerable populations,” the number of cases in the county, and because of its ability to expand its efforts.
Six full-time nurses and three part-time nurses already work seven days a week on contact tracing in the county, said Marsha Wild, director of infectious disease services.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will pay for new contact tracers in St. Clair County and others throughout the state with federal coronavirus money, Pritzker said. But the local health department will hire and determine pay for contact tracers.
A community needs 30 tracers for every 100,000 residents, according to recommendations from the National Association of County and City Health Officials. St. Clair County would need nearly 80 contact tracers according to those recommendations.
Those interested in applying to become a contact tracer can submit their names and resumes online at www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19. The state department will forward applications to local health agencies.
Training in Illinois will be free, Pritzker said Monday, and no one should pay for a program. The state will seek volunteers and workers with health care experience.
Public health departments statewide will use the same software to report their findings. That will allow state officials to get a “real-time sense of where COVID-19 is in Illinois.”
Most communication will happen through a text message or email. If that doesn’t work, a contact tracer will reach out with a phone call. Visiting someone at their home in-person is a last resort.
An individual’s details will remain anonymous from those who have potentially been exposed, and only health officials will have access to name and contact information, according to state law.
Lake County in northeastern Illinois will also serve as a pilot program. Counties that do not serve in the pilot program will submit budgets and plans for contact tracing to the state in the next few weeks, Pritzker said.
Illinois’ contact tracing program is expected to cost $80 million.
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 3:05 PM.
