ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Virginia Department of Health called on local health departments around the state this week to prioritize "key elements of the population" to improve contact tracing efforts during the pandemic as cases of coronavirus continue to surge all around the country.
On Tuesday, Virginia Department of Health (VDH) records showed the second-highest number of new cases of coronavirus reported in the state since data started being tracked in March.
Virginia has hired 2,000 people to assist with contact tracing since the pandemic began.
However, due to the recent surge, health leaders said contact tracers were becoming quickly overwhelmed, making the process "less effective."
"Coming in every day and having a new list of 200 new cases to get to is overwhelming and frankly just not possible," said Epidemiology Program Manager Elena Diskin. "It becomes less effective because if you're trying to get to every single person then you’re not going to get to the newest cases.”
According to VDH, the following groups will be prioritized for contact tracing efforts:
*People diagnosed with coronavirus in the past six days and contacts in their households
*People living or working in communal environments, like nursing homes and long-term care facilities
*People involved in known clusters or outbreaks
*People at high risk of severe illness
Following the announcement, Diskin said it would be crucial for others not on the priority list that contract coronavirus to communicate with people they may have come in contact with.
"This (announcement) acknowledges that with the rise in cases, it’s not as effective to call every single person," she said. "We want the public to understand that they shouldn’t be waiting on a call from the health department right now. If you test positive act quickly, isolate quickly, notify your contacts to quarantine quickly.”
The Alexandria Health Department has seen the overwhelming spike in contact tracing cases firsthand.
Population Health Manager Natalie Talis, who coordinates with the local contact tracing team, said the number of new cases coming in was around six times what it was around several weeks ago.
"It is absolutely the most cases we have seen throughout the entire pandemic," she said. "The team is really putting in as many hours as they possibly can to reach as many people.”
Moving forward, Talis said it would be vital for the public to keep following safety and health guidelines to prevent hospitals and medical facilities from becoming even more overwhelmed.
"We can’t just wait for the vaccine to come in and solve everything," she said. "We need people to act today so we can get this under control. Don’t wait for us to call you. Take action immediately.”