States like Georgia, Texas and Colorado have begun lifting stay-at-home orders without a robust army of public health workers to quickly identify people who’ve come into contact with coronavirus patients, worrying health experts that the states could be at heightened risk for a new wave of infections.
Members of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force have warned a reopening risks erasing weeks of progress in slowing the virus if states don’t have an extensive system for identifying patients and tracing their contacts. The number of contact tracers states need depends on factors like infection rates, testing availability and population density. But those moving to relax restrictions have far fewer contact tracers per capita than many of those remaining locked down for at least a few more weeks.
Texas will begin reopening restaurants, stores and movie theaters this week with just 1,100 contact tracers, about a quarter of what Republican Gov. Greg Abbott hopes to eventually have in place.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whose aggressive reopening was criticized by Trump, wants to deploy 1,000 contact tracers across the state and is looking to interns to help fill the ranks. The state health department, acknowledging the tracking program isn’t fully up to speed, said it’s so far enlisted just 300.
In Florida, where stores and restaurants will begin reopening Monday, the health department has just 500 contact tracers in a state with about 35,000 reported cases. In some of the most populous counties, the number of tracers is in the single digits.
Those efforts stand in stark contrast to other states like Massachusetts and California, which are taking more cautious approaches to reopening. Massachusetts, the first state to announce an ambitious contact tracing operation during the pandemic, hired some 2,000 people last month. California is amassing a force of 10,000 paid and volunteer tracers, building on an already robust disease tracking system across the state.
