, EXPERIENCE AND THE CALL SHE RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT. >> NO ONE AROUND RIGHT NOW AND I’M GOING TO PULL OFF MY MASK. ALLEGHENY COUNTY SAYS THE NUMBER OF CASES HAS GONE UP IN THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS VERY CONCERNING TO THEM. ONE WAY TO STEM THAT IS THROUGH CONTACT TRACING. WE ARE LEARNING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE PROCESS. >> TODAY’S ACTUALLY THE BEST I HAVE FELT IN THE LAST COUPLE DAYS. REPORTER: ERIN TOBIAS IS ON A ROAD TO RECOVERY. SHE WOKE UP FEEING BAD LAST SATURDAY, GOT A TEST THAT NIGHT. A FEW DAYS LATER, THEY TOLD HER SHE’S POSITIVE. AN HOUR AFTER THAT, SHE GOT THE CALL FROM A 412 NUMBER. >> WE WERE PROBABLY ON THE PHONE FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES, MAYBE. AND THEY JUST WANTED TO TRACE BACK ALMOST MY EVERY MOVE FROM THE LAST TWO WEEKS. REPORTER: TOBIAS SAYS THE TRACER WAS EVEN MORE INTERESTED IN THE CLOSE CONTACTS 48 HOURS BEFORE SHE STARTED SHOWING SYMPTOMS. CLOSE CONTACTS WERE DEFINED AS SOMEONE LESS THAN SIX FEET AWAY FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES, EVEN IF ONE OR BOTH PEOPLE WERE WEARING MASKS. SHE SAYS THEY WERE ALSO INTERESTED IN WHETHER OR NOT ANY KIDS WERE NEARBY AS WELL. THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ASKED FOR NAMES AND NUMBERS OF THOSE PEOPLE AS PART OF THEIR INVESTIGATION. WE ASKED TOBIAS IF THAT GAVE HER ANY PRIVACY CONCERNS. >> I GET THAT THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT LIKE THE REST OF US ARE. THESE DOCTORS AND THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT. THE MORE QUESTIONS THEY ASK, AND PINPOINT HOW IT IS BEING SPREAD AND WHERE IT IS GOING FROM THERE , WE GET IT. THEY’RE JUST DOING THEIR JOB. REPORTER: THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT DOES EVENTUALLY CALL THOSE CONTACTS TO LET THEM KNOW OF POSSIBLE EXPOSURE TO SOMEONE TESTED POSITIVE. IF YOU WERE, YOU ARE URGED TO SELF-QUARANTINE FOR 14 DAYS. BECAUSE OF THE LARGE INCREASE IN CASES, THE PROCESS OF CONTACT TRACING COULD BE SLOWER, BUT IT IS ONE
Allegheny County Health Department says contact tracing to be slower with spike in cases
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 speaks with someone who recently went through the process
The Allegheny Health Department says the volume of new cases means contact tracing won’t happen as quickly.Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 spoke with Erin Tobias.She woke up last Saturday feeling unwell. She got a test that night and learned a few days later that she was positive for COVID-19 and got a call from a contact tracer about an hour later.”We were probably on the phone for about 30 minutes, maybe. And they just wanted to trace back almost my every move from the last two weeks,” Tobias said.While they were interested in everything she’d done the last few weeks, she said the contact tracer really honed in on the 48 hours before she started feeling symptoms, and who she may have been in contact with.Tobias plays softball and told tracers the names of people she’d been close to. The health department defined a close contact as someone who’d been within six feet for more than 15 minutes.They also asked about children who may have been nearby. Tobias thought the implication was that younger children are less likely to abide by social distancing.Tobias says she hasn’t traveled out of state and hadn’t gone into bars or restaurants for long periods of time, adding that her family wore masks too.”They asked if I had traveled, they had asked if I’d been in any large groups, gatherings of 25 or more, any events, had I gone to any restaurant, public spaces, stores. This, that and the other thing,” Tobias said.Tobias said she trusted the health department with all this information, saying it was for the greater good.”Although part of me thinks this is not that bad anymore and people are OK, you still, once you do have it, you feel like ‘oh my gosh’ who could have I infected, or I hope that my case doesn’t travel around further to someone that would get it worse than me. So I was nervous to tell people, but I knew I wasn’t going to get any harsh backlash,” she said.Here’s a link to the latest guidance from the health department on contact tracing.
PITTSBURGH —
The Allegheny Health Department says the volume of new cases means contact tracing won’t happen as quickly.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 spoke with Erin Tobias.
She woke up last Saturday feeling unwell. She got a test that night and learned a few days later that she was positive for COVID-19 and got a call from a contact tracer about an hour later.
“We were probably on the phone for about 30 minutes, maybe. And they just wanted to trace back almost my every move from the last two weeks,” Tobias said.
While they were interested in everything she’d done the last few weeks, she said the contact tracer really honed in on the 48 hours before she started feeling symptoms, and who she may have been in contact with.
Tobias plays softball and told tracers the names of people she’d been close to. The health department defined a close contact as someone who’d been within six feet for more than 15 minutes.
They also asked about children who may have been nearby. Tobias thought the implication was that younger children are less likely to abide by social distancing.
Tobias says she hasn’t traveled out of state and hadn’t gone into bars or restaurants for long periods of time, adding that her family wore masks too.
“They asked if I had traveled, they had asked if I’d been in any large groups, gatherings of 25 or more, any events, had I gone to any restaurant, public spaces, stores. This, that and the other thing,” Tobias said.
Tobias said she trusted the health department with all this information, saying it was for the greater good.
“Although part of me thinks this is not that bad anymore and people are OK, you still, once you do have it, you feel like ‘oh my gosh’ who could have I infected, or I hope that my case doesn’t travel around further to someone that would get it worse than me. So I was nervous to tell people, but I knew I wasn’t going to get any harsh backlash,” she said.
Here’s a link to the latest guidance from the health department on contact tracing.
