由 home-healthhaven 
Over the past year, public health has faced its biggest challenge since the Spanish flu over a century ago. The COVID-19 outbreak began in early 2020 and wreaked havoc worldwide, crippling economies, overwhelming hospitals, and leading to countless deaths and infections.
This enormous threat to public health still looms as the virus surges again. However, countries are better prepared this time around. We now have various tools and measures to help curb the spread of the virus, including social distancing, vaccination rollouts, increased awareness, and contact tracing.
**What Contact Tracers Do**
Contact tracers play a crucial role in our fight against COVID-19 and in protecting public health. They start by calling individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 to discuss where they’ve been and who they’ve interacted with recently. The tracers then reach out to those contacts to inform them of their potential exposure and guide them on the necessary steps.
By notifying people of their exposure, contact tracers help prevent further spread of the virus. Those informed can isolate themselves and get tested before they continue to interact with others, which can significantly slow the transmission of COVID-19 and help protect the community.
One challenge is that many people don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, making it difficult for contact tracers to reach them. As shown in our infographic, many Americans tend to ignore calls from unfamiliar numbers, which hampers the tracers’ efforts.
A possible solution is to use a reverse phone look-up tool that identifies callers, even from unknown numbers. This could help people recognize that the call is from a contact tracer and prompt them to answer.
**An Invaluable Service**
Contact tracers are providing an invaluable service in our ongoing battle against COVID-19. As vaccination efforts progress, we may eventually reach a point where contact tracing is no longer needed. For now, however, this program remains a critical part of our strategy to control the pandemic and protect public health.