NASHVILLE – Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said Tuesday that while her department brought on another 230 people last month to help with critical contact tracing of people exposed to the coronavirus, the department is looking to bring on an unspecified number of additional workers in coming days.
During Gov. Bill Lee’s online news briefing on Tuesday, Piercey said in response to questions posed by the Times Free Press that her department has “well above 300 contact tracers and looking to bring on another cohort, probably sometime in June.”
The contact tracers interview individuals who test positive for the virus and gain information about their contacts with other people in recent weeks. Then comes trying to find and speak to the people, many of whom likely don’t know they had been in contact with someone who later tested positive.
The effort comes as Lee has started lifting many of the economic and social restrictions he had earlier imposed across 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. The state’s six biggest counties (which includes Hamilton) have their own health departments and are deciding on their own measures, although Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger has consistently gone along with actions by Lee, a fellow Republican.
The increased economic and social activity as many businesses as well as public facilities begin opening is expected to spur additional community spread. Lee, a Republican, has said the state intends to keep a close eye on the numbers and percentage increases of new infections even as he issues guidelines, not orders, on what residents and businesses should be doing. He urges Tennesseans almost daily to continue following known safety practices such as washing hands, wearing face masks and social distancing as much as possible.