North Carolina's top health official says the state is still looking for a private company to dramatically expand its ability to identify people who have come in contact with those who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen says North Carolina would like to partner with one company to expand its efforts to do contact tracing. Contact racing is the process of identifying and monitoring those who have come in contact with people who test positive for the coronavirus.
"So we’re looking to establish that with one partner, who will then be able to start the process of hiring and recruiting, training and then deploying folks as we go," Cohen said.
Cohen said she would have an update on which company the state would partner with by the end of this week. North Carolina has 250 public health workers trained to do contact tracing.
Gov. Roy Cooper reiterated Tuesday that increased tracing is one of three requirements he wants to see before he will fully reopen the state, alongside more testing and declining trends in new coronavirus cases and deaths.
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