As the U.S. aims to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the national number of contact tracers has risen from 11,142 to 37,110 in the past six weeks, according to an NPR survey of state health departments.
Six things to know:
1. Contact tracers are hired to help track cases and exposure. They are typically public health workers who connect with infected individuals, as well as their contacts, to ensure people can safely isolate themselves.
2. While the national contact tracer workforce tripled in the past six weeks, only seven states and Washington, D.C., have staffing levels public health researchers say is necessary for containment, according to NPR, which released its initial contact tracer survey in late April and recently reached out to states again.
3. An NPR analysis using the Contact Tracing Workforce Estimator developed by The Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at the George Washington University shows Alaska, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., have enough contact tracers based on their number of cases over the past 14 days.
4. NPR's analysis shows that six other states — Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina and Washington — have enough contact tracers when reserve staff are included, and 37 states do not have enough contact tracers.
5. Many states plan to hire more contact tracers, reassign government staff or train outside volunteers, and some have trained staff or volunteers who are ready to work on contact tracing if needed, according to NPR. NPR estimates that there will be 68,525 contact tracers nationwide if states follow through with plans to hire and utilize reserve staff.
6. Still, the total reported to NPR by states is less than the more than 100,000 contact tracers some public health experts say are needed nationwide, according to the news organization.
Read the full NPR report here.
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