Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Has contact tracing failed to slow the coronavirus in the US?
Thursday, August 6, 2020
By Christopher Hutton
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YES
The U.S. has fallen well short of goals for using contact tracing to identify and isolate people who may have been unknowingly exposed to the coronavirus. In combination with efficient testing, contact tracing has been an important tool in East Asia and parts of Europe in braking the spread of the virus.
In June 2020, the director of the Centers for Disease Control said health authorities employed about 78,000 contact tracers, against a potential need of up to 300,000. As infections surged in July, delays in reporting test results limited the early-warning value of efforts in some states. Needs in some places ran well ahead of capacity, with many locales reporting breakdowns. Funding for sustaining or expanding current efforts is uncertain.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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