A COVID-19 swab test is dropped into a platic bag following a scheduled drive-up Tuesday afternoon at Mary’s Corner Medical Clinic.
Lewis County will expand its contact tracing efforts thanks to Mathematica, a data and policy company that last month contracted with the state Department of Health.
Lewis County Public Health and Social Services announced the partnership, which also includes the Washington National Guard, on Wednesday, saying the team would start their work immediately, and at no cost to the county.
“We won’t have to be using any of our funds that we have already received for that contact tracing work, which is really big, because they were not an inexpensive company to contract with, so that’s pretty exciting,” Public Health Director J.P. Anderson told county commissioners this week.
Earlier this month, the county was considering expanding their contact tracing efforts, which were being conducted by only a few county employees. With COVID-19 case numbers still on the rise, and with more schools reopening, Anderson said additional help would be a more sustainable option for the county in the months to come.
The county conducts contact tracing by reaching out to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and asking for close contacts, defined as “someone who has been within 6 feet, for 15 minutes or longer at any time while the patient may have been infectious,” according to a county press release.
Contact tracers then call close contacts to inform them of their exposure, and advise them to get tested if they develop symptoms. Personal information is only available to the public health professionals while they are working to contact trace.
