Many covid positive Pennsylvanians ignoring contact tracing questions

Fewer than a quarter of Pennsylvania residents who tested positive for covid-19 in late October answered questions from contact tracers as to whether they’d been to any restaurants, bars or mass gatherings, according to data released Monday by the Department of Health.

“You might save a life by being honest about who you were in contact with and the places that you visited,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

Between Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, there were 11,926 confirmed cases, according to data from the health department. Of those who, just 23.6% — 2,809 – people answered the question as to whether they spent time at any businesses in the two weeks prior to testing positive.

Only a few more people – 2,823 – responded to the question of whether they’d been to a mass gathering. About 514 of those who responded – about 18.2% — said yes.

“I cannot stress enough how critical this information is for us and how important it is for people to participate fully in the case investigation and contact tracing process,” Levine said.

She reiterated that case investigations remain anonymous, and contact tracers do not reveal to potential contacts the name of the ill person they were near.

Of the 2,809 people who answered the case investigation question regarding businesses, 4.1% — 489 people – answered “yes.”

A breakdown of businesses:

• 278 people (57%) reported going to a restaurant;
• 70 people (14%) reported going to a gym;
• 58 people (12%) reported going to a bar;
• 29 people (6%) reported going to a salon or barbershop;
• 35 (28%) reported going to some other type of business

Those numbers, Levine said, show how those settings can act as avenues for transmission. She urged Pennsylvanians to take seriously their “collective responsibility to protect our communities and our most vulnerable.” Everyone, she said, must “answer the call.”

That can mean literally, Levine said, by answering the call when case investigators and contact tracers reach out.

“It starts with answering the call if you test positive when a case investigators reaches out to you. Please answer the call and participate in the interview,” she said. “Answer the call if a contact tracer reaches out to you. They may tell you that you need to stay home for 14 days, even if you don’t get sick – but you may save a life by following those directions.”

The Department of Health tallied 2,060 newly reported cases of covid-19 on Monday, marking four straight weeks of new cases counts above 1,000. In the past week, five days have seen new case counts in excess of 2,000.