84 investigators working to trace spread of COVID-19 in Fresno County
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- COVID-19 is ramping up and so is Contact tracing here in the Valley.
Currently, 84 investigators are doing contact tracing in Fresno County.
Melanie Deto, a public health nurse and trainer, said:
"Right now, it is a work in progress to meet every single individual that is positive. What we're doing to meet that need is bringing on another 20-30 next week. We will be doing another training for another group that will come on as medical investigators which will do the contact tracing."
Contact tracing is when workers notify you that you've been in contact with an infected person.
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You will be asked basic questions like your name and age, the places you've been, and the people you've spent time with.
Investigators say they've been seeing spread in large households.
"A lot of cases I've recently had have been tied to a Father's Day party or a Mother's Day party, a family reunion... It will be interesting to see after the fourth of July if we have more of that," said Bridget Ballesteros, a part of the medical investigation team.
Scammers are out, but health officials say the information you provide is confidential.
"It will be your name and address. Then we start asking you who you live with and where you've been. If anyone is calling you saying that they work with the health department and they're asking for your social security numbers, bank account numbers, really private information, that is not us," said Deto.
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Contact tracing is also happening in other parts of the Valley.
Madera County has 50 people in training and hopes to bring in 10 more on in the coming weeks.
They're using an electronic system to record information.
Tulare County has 75 full-time tracers and plans to have more than 100 in a few weeks.
Investigators hope that by tracing the virus, they'll be able to slow the spread of coronavirus.
