Few picking up phone in Arkansas when virus tracers call

Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, state epidemiologist, speaks Wednesday, May 20, 2020, during the daily covid-19 briefing at the Arkansas Department of Health in Little Rock. 
 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staton Breidenthal)
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, state epidemiologist, speaks Wednesday, May 20, 2020, during the daily covid-19 briefing at the Arkansas Department of Health in Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staton Breidenthal)

Efforts to slow the spread of covid-19 in Arkansas are being hampered because contact tracers are having difficulty getting people to answer the phone, says Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, state epidemiologist with the Arkansas Department of Health.

Contact tracing is a key part of the state's strategy for preventing the further spread of the coronavirus, Arkansas health officials have said.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Steering Committee signed off in May on the state Department of Health's initial request for $22.4 million to go toward contact tracing. Another $16.8 million to bolster contact tracing efforts was endorsed Wednesday by the panel appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to recommend the best uses of federal coronavirus relief funds.

Dillaha said Thursday that when the Department of Health receives a report of a positive covid test, it reaches out to the person and provides instructions on how the person should isolate. Case investigators will then ask where the person had been over the past two days in an effort to determine who the person had been in contact with and potentially exposed to the virus.

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"Did they go to work? Did they go to school? Did they go to a social gathering, attend some kind of function outside of the home?" Dillaha said. "Then we are interested when they go to those places where they have been within 6 feet [of others] for 15 minutes or more.

"Those are called close contacts. Those are the ones that are at the greatest risk of being infected with the virus. We ask them to make a list of those people."

The case is then turned over to a contact tracer, who reaches out to all the people listed as close contacts to let them know they need to quarantine for 14 days as a precaution and to prevent possibly spreading the virus to others.

The problem the Health Department faces is that many of those close contacts aren't answering the contact tracers' calls. Dillaha believes that can be attributed in part to the prevalence of robocalls and telephone scams.

"You know, there are so many robocalls today that if people don't recognize the number they won't respond to it," she said.

The Department of Health said in a news release Thursday that many of the state's contact tracers call from the number (877) 272-6819, but that a contact investigator also may reach out from a different phone number.

"We will leave voicemails," Dillaha said, "but sometimes we aren't sure if it's the right number so we won't' leave a lot of medical information in the voicemail because that might violate someone's privacy."

The state attorney general's office in a news release Wednesday warned residents about potential scammers posing as contact tracers in an attempt to steal Arkansans' personal information. Amanda Priest, a spokesperson for the attorney general's office, said the alert was a proactive measure to raise awareness.

"Con artists are impersonating contact tracers in order to steal your money and your identity," Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in the release. "The Arkansas Department of Health will not ask for your Social Security information or demand a payment when reaching out about contact with positive cases of covid-19."

Rutledge advised Arkansans to avoid clicking on links in emails or text messages and to verify potential contact tracers by contacting the Arkansas Department of Health.

The state has approximately 700 contact tracers working on cases, and Dillaha said a contact tracer will never ask for a Social Security Number, bank account number or credit card number.

"If they do that, then it means they are not legitimate contact tracers," she said.

Dillaha said contact tracers also will use email to reach close contacts who might have been exposed.

"The email will tell you to call the number," she said. "It won't ask for any additional information."

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