Maricopa County Health Department To Expand Contact Tracing

By Jill Ryan
Published: Friday, April 24, 2020 - 8:04am
Updated: Friday, April 24, 2020 - 8:05am

graphic showing how cases are identified
Maricopa County

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health plans to increase the number of people contacting those who have been exposed to COVID-19.

The county plans to ramp up contact tracing to eight to 10 times the current capacity. Right now, the agency has 25 investigators.

Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine says even with more staff, there are still barriers. 

“The limitation on access to testing has more to do with having the supplies to collect the specimen and the personal protective equipment to collect those specimens safely," Sunenshine said. 

Maricopa County is the biggest in the state, and has the highest number of Coronavirus cases. Sunenshine says contact tracing is the best way to monitor the current cases and track the community’s infection rate.

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