BEAUMONT, Texas — When a person tests positive for the virus, tracers contact the patient and create a timeline of where that patient has been and who they have been in contact with.
It's an intensive effort. A core of coronavirus trackers lead the investigation.
To contain the spread, they first identify positive cases and isolate those patients.
They determine who they've come in close contact with. Those people are asked to get self-tested and self-isolate.
Beaumont has four contact tracers, and Port Arthur has between 8 and 10.
Orange County and Hardin County share 4.
Jasper County has 1. They're looking to identify those who have come in close contact with a positive patient, but not those who may have had 'casual' contact.
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"Just passing somebody in a store, it doesn't pose a high risk. But if somebody had said, 'I spent a considerable amount in CVS standing in a line with bunch of people coughing and sneezing,' then that is something that we will certainly follow up," said Anita Kurian with San Antonio Metro Health.
In Beaumont, one of the most concerning things contact tracers have heard is reports of people going to work with a fever.
It's important to stay home if you're sick.