Iowa public health officials are struggling to reach individuals with COVID-19, making it difficult to conduct contact tracing and request that the infected individuals stay home, reports The Des Moines Register.
"It's been hell, if you want me to be honest," said Christine Estle, BSN, RN, administrator of the Jefferson County (Iowa) Health Department.
Ms. Estle said contact tracers have few tangible benefits to offer participants because treatments aren't yet available for COVID-19.
It's particularly difficult to conduct contact tracing in rural areas, Ms. Estle said. Small health departments know many of the families they're calling, and many residents let calls go to voicemail, according to Ms. Estle. Others answer the calls but aren't forthright, she said.
"It's to the point where we know people are lying to us," Ms. Estle told The Des Moines Register. Some people exposed to the virus will tell officials they're staying home, but then the nurses will see them at the store or notice new vacation pictures on Facebook, Ms. Estle said.
Lynelle Diers, RN, clinical director for the Wapello County (Iowa) Public Health Department, said many residents seem to have stopped taking precautions to slow the virus's spread. Health officials are becoming demoralized as residents decline to cooperate, according to Ms. Diers.
About 170,000 total Iowans have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, with more than 45,000 testing positive since the start of November alone, reports The Des Moines Register.