As COVID-19 cases in LA County surge, contact-tracing rates are dropping.
Getting people who test positive to complete contact-tracing interviews has been a challenge throughout the pandemic, prompting the county this summer to offer $20 gift cards to try to boost participation.
"That is a concern, " says USC Assistant Professor Rita Burke, an expert in public health responses to pandemics. She says "Because those people who are infected who may have been around other people, who they may have potentially infected, have now no way of knowing they may have been exposed."
Amid the alarming post-Thanksgiving surge, the most recent data from the public health department shows the participation rate is down to 56%.
Dr. Paul Simon, the county's chief science officer, says it's hard to say why participation is falling.
"I guess there is the overwhelming fatigue," Simon says.
He says the contact tracing group is trying to come up with ways to increase participation.
But he adds that with an average of about 9,500 new cases a day, "it becomes more and more difficult...to do effective contact tracing."
He says they're prioritizing case investigations and pulling back a bit on follow-ups with contacts. He hopes the recently launched contact-tracing app, CA Notify, will help.