Second COVID-19 Contact Tracing Employee Begins Work in Groveland; Third Available

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A second person to help with COVID-19 contact tracing began working in Groveland this week.

The Groveland Board of Health said it hired a part-time employee to conduct contact tracing last November in response to a significant rise in cases. It voted at an emergency meeting at the end of last month to hire the second part-time employee, noting a six-day delay between the identification and notification of close contacts at that time.

According to a statement, the town recently contacted a third person, trained and certified in contact tracing, who may be hired if the need continues to grow.

Until recently, the Town of Groveland used the state’s Community Tracing Collaborative to assist with the notification of those identified as close contacts to an individual with an active, positive case of COVID-19. The town did not previously have adequate staffing to manage this workload without additional support, especially as cases continued to rise during the holiday season.

This week, there were 44 active cases of COVID-19 in Groveland. From Dec. 31-Jan. 12, there were 80 positive cases of COVID-19 in Groveland and 11.5% of all COVID-19 tests being taken in the community returned positive results. The town currently has a “red” designation from the state, meaning there is a high risk of COVID-19 in the community.

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