Just now, so right now for the COVID-19
I'm a contact tracer supervisor.
I became the lead for the isolation
and quarantine team because I just
they recruited me. I jumped right in.
My title is Co lead on the
isolation and quarantine team is
also something called case investigation.
The best, so that's basically talking to the
positive client and then from the positive
client would get the contact tracing.
So so the week. Basically we're
doing the interview with the patient.
We help them recall every everyone
with whom they have been had close
contact and during their time
frame of their affections period.
From there we get Contacts and that's
where the contact tracing is so important.
Then the contact tracers.
Warn, warn the exposed individuals.
You know there are exposed individual
Contacts of the potential exposure,
so what're you know?
How do you get the information that
people have tested positive for covid?
Or how do you initially get like hey,
I need to start tracing this
specific person. Yeah, so we
get those reports,
typically from labs and providers,
and then they get in,
put it into a database called the
California reportable Disease
Information Exchange database,
which is used to monitor all
communicable diseases across
the state in California,
and so those results get inputed
into this database and then we are
notified of positive cases that come
in and we have a separate team that.
That notifies our team of those
positives so that we can interview them.
Please someone isolation in
quarantine and you going to tell me
what exactly you're doing
when you reach out to folks.
So we first hear about a new patient from the
intake team after someone is tested positive,
they become confirmed patient,
so that's the first person we call
because we have their phone number,
and that's usually all we have and
sometimes we don't have their phone numbers,
so we have to get the District Attorney
District Attorney to help us find him.
You found above the current
phone number for the person,
so once we were in touch with them
then they give us their Contacts.
Anyone who they've been in
touch with in close contact.
That would define them possibly
being affected by covid.
So then once we get those
Contacts and we call them.
But we make sure to remain confidential,
and we called the Contacts.
We don't tell them who we gotta
just tell them they are they
possibly been exposed to COVID-19.
So then we replace the Contacts and coins.
And the patients go into isolation,
which means they separate from
people household or in the world
and the rest of the household is on
quarantine not to leave the house in,
just a separate positive patient.
I think one
of the the main thing is that racing is
so important or why my job is boring or
why public health is so important is that
we need to isolate infected people so
they don't spread the disease to others.
We need to identify and test and isolate
Contacts who have COVID-19 symptoms.
And then we also have to watch so
one of the things that the contracts
do we have to watch for the symptoms
by checking in with Contacts who
do not have COVID-19 symptoms.
And sometimes we're calling every
other day just to you know,
see if that can you know how you doing.
Are you expressing symptoms?
And if they are, they need to get tested.
Contact tracing is very important.
It's very important because this virus is.
It spreads fast and it spreads.
You know, very spreads quickly and it spreads
within our own households and it affects.
Vulnerable populations,
and that's something that we
need to take into account.
You know it's not just the elderly that
should be concerned about this virus,
and with contact tracing, I think.
It just really further emphasizes the
fact that it's not just we can't be
concerned about, just our own health,
and that there's others who are impacted
by the actions that we take me.
Choosing to isolate myself if I have the
coronavirus is me trying to protect my mom,
protect my family and you know,
I think that we all wanted to protect the
people that we have in our in our lives
were close to us and so I think that's.
That's a big reason why it's
it's really important,
and we ultimately want to limit and
reduce the spread of this virus because
we want to get back to normal life.
You want to get back to them for normalcy
in resuming the activities that we used
to do hanging out with our friends.
I mean, I know I do.
So you know, if we can get,
you know and try to work to
reduce this virus and you know,
maintain our social distancing
and hygiene practices.
Hand washing, we can hopefully you know, get.
Look forward in our phases of reopening.