FORT WORTH, Texas — About 47% of Tarrant County residents who tested positive for COVID-19 did not answer calls or messages from contact tracers, according to recent public health data.
"That's a huge number," said Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja.
He said contact tracers called, used automated text messaging systems and emailed when they had email addresses.
"Otherwise, through their last known address, we sent a letter," Taneja said. "No response."
This week, Tarrant County launched a new campaign to raise awareness and encourage residents to "answer the call" from contact tracers.
Here’s how contact tracing is supposed to work: Once you test positive for COVID-19, whoever conducted your test, whether a doctor's office or laboratory, sends your positive result to the public health department.
“But the challenge here has been that the testing coming back to public health, the results have been delayed several times,” Taneja said.
If you tested positive for COVID-19 and didn’t hear from a contact tracer, it’s possible the county was delayed in getting your test results, so the county didn’t know you tested positive, Taneja said.
It’s also possible the office just got overwhelmed.
“If the case volume becomes too high – like what we experienced in July – you have to build an army of people, and even then, you might not get to everybody," Taneja said.
But the Tarrant County Public Health director said many residents, who test positive for COVID-19, are doing their own contact tracing.
“They’ve already done the right thing: Inform their contacts. We reach out to the contacts. They already know. Some of them already got tested,” Taneja said. “So that gives me comfort that even with those that we could not reach, the word was out there.”
Tarrant County launched a new website this week, where county residents can report their own positive COVID-19 test and upload a picture of their results.
“What that does is it helps us prioritize you for a contact tracing call,” Taneja said.
If accepting a call from a contact tracer makes you uncomfortable, Tarrant County residents can fill out a survey online or call the COVID-19 hotline: 817-248-6299
“We ask them to cooperate to give us that information so we can put a stop to COVID-19,” Taneja said. “Please answer that call.”