Despite struggles, Pennsylvania continues to emphasize contact tracing to squash COVID-19

Wolf Administration provides testing and contact tracing updates

The director of testing and contact tracing in PA, Michael Huff, joined Good Day Philadelphia to talk about contact tracing and the different testing methods offered in PA.

PHILADELPHIA - As the coronavirus pandemic runs uncontrolled across the country, health officials continue to emphasize contact tracing as a crucial step in containing a virus that is now suspected of killing more than 250,000 Americans.

In Pennsylvania, whose latest daily caseload topped 6,000 infections, a robust contact tracing program was hurriedly assembled as the virus raged in the spring. It has since become a staple of the state's efforts to stop COVID-19 from branching out.

Director of Testing and Contact Tracing Michael Huff discussed the push to track down potential cases before further transmission Thursday morning on Good Day Philadelphia.

According to Huff, a state health worker will call an infected individual and cull information about the patient's whereabouts and who they may have come in contact with. Anyone who is a 'close contact' with an infected person - within 6 feet for 15 minutes - will be identified and contacted by a health official for evaluation and education. Of course, infected people are required to isolate, while close contacts are advised to quarantine for a two week period.

One of the widespread pitfalls of contact tracing so far has been the public's unwillingness to answer a phone call from the health department. Some withhold due to privacy concerns, while others simply see a number they are not familiar with and ignore the call. Huff said the state is working on ways to overcome such hurdles.

"We have to develop and maintain trust," Huff said. "Right now public trust is not as great as it needs to be, I think people are concerned that information that may be requested or shared will not be kept confidential and not certain what people will do with the information."

Wolf Administration provides testing and contact tracing updates

The director of testing and contact tracing in PA, Michael Huff, joined Good Day Philadelphia to talk about contact tracing and the different testing methods offered in PA.

Huff assured viewers that contact tracers and government health officials are "highly trained" and "understand the need for confidentiality." All names of contacts and infected individuals are kept private as part of Pennsylvania's "extremely confidential process," according to Huff.

Pennsylvania isn't the only state struggling to get people to participate with contract tracers. Gov. Phil Murphy in neighboring New Jersey has made several pleas to Garden State residents pick up the phone and cooperate in contact tracing efforts.

Both states - in addition to New York, Connecticut and Delaware - have created a cohort of COVID-19 alert phone applications for residents to download. The apps use bluetooth technology to exchange encrypted codes with other app users to create a network of contacts.

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