Ocean County Health Department Expanding Contact Tracing Staff
TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Ocean County Health Department is starting a program to recruit and train people to do contact tracing as officials work to manage the ongoing concerns with the coronavirus and COVID-19.
The new Disease Investigation/Contact Tracing Institute, which is being established in partnership with Ocean County Collegek will train people in disease investigation to trace and monitor contacts of people infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and to "help ensure the safe, sustainable and effective quarantine" of those people to prevent further spread, the health department said in a news release.
Contact tracing has been one of the items Gov. Phil Murphy has said is key to getting New Jersey more fully open to businesses and other elements of life. The state has been under a stay-at-home order since March 21 to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
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There have been more than 152,000 New Jersey residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 10,985 deaths from complications of COVID-19 as of Friday, but the pace of new positive tests and the pace of deaths from the virus both have slowed since mid-April.
"The road back is paved with five words: public health creates economic health," Murphy said May 12. "We need to give working business owners and customers the confidence that we can move forward." Read more: NJ Starts 'Robust' Coronavirus Test, Contact Tracing For Reopen
Daniel Regenye, public health coordinator for the Ocean County Health Department, said the county is continuing to respond to the changing conditions with the coronavirus.
"We felt the institute was an important piece to serve the community by putting more personnel on our tracing task force to work cases with timely investigations that will ultimately mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and hopefully save lives as we move forward," he said. Ocean County College is providing space and technical resources.
A disease investigator is the county health department's first point of contact with a newly diagnosed person; the investigator interviews them over the phone to learn more about their illness to mitigate future transmission.
A contact tracer is "a lot like being a detective," health department officials said. Trained staff interview people who have been diagnosed with a contagious disease to sort out who they may have recently been in contact with, and if the person is a potential source of transmission, they are encouraged to quarantine is the best option to prevent spreading the disease any further.
Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know
"You need to think of this as a continuum," said Jennifer Crawford, supervising field representative in disease control and the senior epidemiologist in the county's Communicable Disease unit. "As you test more residents, you identify more positives. The goal is to interview each of these newly diagnosed COVID-positive residents. This interview identifies 'contacts' of newly identified individuals which will need to be quarantined for the duration of the incubation period in order prevent further spread of the virus and most importantly protect those most vulnerable."
The process requires extensive resources, she said, and the new contact tracer institute will allow the county to meet the challenge.
There are now more than 8,3,00 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ocean County and investigating each case has been a tall order, county health officials said.
"Each case has so many unique and moving parts," officials said. "Dedicating more staff to assist with cases will only better expedite the investigation process."
"It’s another important piece to get a better grasp of the pandemic," Freeholder Gerry P. Little said.
"As the State continues to loosen restrictions and the public health community responds to rapidly changing local circumstances, it’s going to be important we have all the assets we can in learning more about the movement of this disease as we look ahead," Regenye said.
More information about the COVID-19 Contact Tracing Institute is available on the county's website, and those with questions can call the COVID-19 Information Call Hot Line at 732-341-9700 ext. 7411.
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This article originally appeared on the Toms River Patch
