Santa Clara County Seeks Hundreds Of Contact Tracers To Track COVID-19 Spread
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – Santa Clara County is putting out the call to seek hundreds of contact tracers for tracking coronavirus cases.
The county has signed up as many as 100 volunteers, but is looking for as many as 800 more. County Executive Jeff Smith wants the public to know, it's not dangerous.
"It's not something that puts you at risk of getting the disease at all," Smith said. "It's really something related just to collecting information and spreading information, not spreading virus."
Smith said the work is done by phone. Without contact tracing, officials warned the community could be stuck in a longer period of sheltering and social distancing.
Health officials say contact tracing is an important tool to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
The job involves tracking people down who have close contact with someone who has tested positive and encouraging them to quarantine.
