2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-2019) Weekly Update #38 – August 11, 2020
Contact Tracing Saves Lives
Fight COVID-19 in your community by getting tested and talking to contact tracers. Any information you share will only be used to fight the virus. The NJ Department of Health has unveiled an online dashboard to highlight the State’s contact
tracing efforts throughout the state. “It is critical for all New Jerseyans to answer contact tracing calls in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. This dashboard will join several other public-facing platforms we have created for the purposes of transparency and public awareness”, says Governor Murphy.
The biggest reason why contact tracers have been unable to follow-up on cases is because people have not answered the call. In addition, 45% of people who tested positive declined to share information on their close contacts. According to current data, 61% of cases were successfully followed up on and nearly half of all contacts were notified of exposure.
If you receive a call from a contact tracer, it will come through with a zip code local to yours. It is common for people to get spam calls but contact tracers will always leave a voicemail with information on how to follow up with them. A contact tracer will identify themselves as working with the local health department when they call. All information will be kept confidential. Contact tracers will never ask for a Social Security number, financial information, or immigration status. A contact tracer will provide critical health and safety information as well as resources for social services.
Please answer all questions from a contact tracer as honestly as possible. If you are notified as being a close contact, quarantine for 14 days, monitor your symptoms and get tested. If you suspect a call is a scam you can report it to the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs at 973-504-6240.
Indoor Dining and COVID-19 Transmission
On Monday, August 10th Governor Murphy shared a video from Vox.com detailing the transmission potential of COVID-19 with indoor dining. In the video, one infected diner at a middle table spread the virus to
nine other diners at adjacent tables including some as far as 14 get away. The case was part of a study published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
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