The state of Louisiana has shared more details about how "contact tracing" will work when the state hits "Phase One" of reopening -- possibly as soon as one week from today.
The Louisiana Department of Health is hiring up to 700 people to track down individuals with whom a coronavirus patient has been in contact.
"Contact tracing is really the process by which we identify all of the individuals who might be at risk of developing COVID-19 through exposure to somebody who has been diagnosed with the viral infection," said Dr. Alex Billioux with LDH.
Dr. Billioux said it is an important part of being able to move the state into the first phase of reopening businesses.
"As we move into looking at the next phases and considering relaxation of the stay at home order, it's more critical than ever that we have the ability to comprehensively interview every case that's detected, and identify the people who could have come into contact with those individuals," he said.
Dr. Billioux said the contact tracers will be attempting to find anyone who was within six feet of someone with COVID-19 for at least fifteen minutes.
The training for the contact tracing employees will be handled by LSU's Disaster Management Institute.
Click here for more information on how to apply to be a contact tracer.
