The Manitowoc County Health Department is adjusting how contact tracing is being conducted in response to rapidly increasing cases in the County.
In the past, contact tracers would notify not only those who tested positive, but also all of their direct contacts. This often resulted in dozens of phone calls for each positive case. With the rapid increase in cases, it is no longer possible to conduct contact tracing in this way.
The Health Department will continue to notify those who test positive to advise them to isolate and they will also notify those that live with a positive case in the same household unit to quarantine, however, those that test positive will be asked by the Health Department to reach out to their direct contacts on their own to advise them to quarantine.
Mary Halada, Manitowoc County Health Officer said of the change, “…it was becoming impossible to reach out to hundreds of close contacts each day without delay.”
Schools and some businesses are also conducting their own contact tracing efforts.
