Name: Need a job? The coronavirus pandemic puts contact tracers in demand, and a local college has a new program to train them.
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Need a job? The coronavirus pandemic puts contact tracers in demand, and a local college has a new program to train them.

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMay 07, 2020 at 1:28 pmAs efforts to expand contact tracing become a priority in Illinois, new training programs at local colleges could help fill the gap by supplying valuable workers to local health departments that need to keep tabs on COVID-19 infections.Oakton Community College was the first Chicago-area school to announce its online course, which is expected to begin later this month. Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine in Springfield is also developing a program, but the dates have not been finalized.Advertisement“We have heard the call that in order for us to safely reopen the economy, we will need hundreds of thousands of contact tracers,” said Joianne Smith, Oakton’s president, during a virtual news conference Wednesday. “I am confident that this will help serve the needs of our community, not just in the immediate future but for years to come.”Contact tracing recently entered the public vernacular because it’s frequently touted as a weapon to stop the coronavirus from spreading. Many local health departments are already utilizing the practice, which involves interviewing recently diagnosed patients and tracking down and warning anyone who had close contact with them in the previous two weeks.AdvertisementBut to ease restrictions in Illinois depends on a more robust network of contact tracing than what is already in place. Pritzker and his top health officials have previously estimated that, regions must be able to begin contact tracing on at least 90% of all new diagnoses within 24 hours before schools and restaurants can reopen. Without widespread contact tracing, the plan says, “mitigation and maintaining a 6-foot social distance have been the only options to reduce the spread and save as many lives as possible.”The programs at Oakton and SIU will be based . The CDC says that public and private entities will have to work together to “scale up and train a large contact tracer workforce," according to its website. Per CDC guidelines, tracers instruct anyone with potential exposure to isolate for 14 days and check back over that time to monitor their health.At the SIU School of Medicine, administrators confirmed that a program was being created but declined an interview, saying it was too early to share more information.“SIU Medicine is developing a contact tracing curriculum to complement our pandemic health worker programs and community outreach initiatives,” spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said in an email. “We are in the early stages of this work and do not have implementation timelines or program details to announce.”Dr. Catherine Counard, director of health for the village of Skokie, said outside training programs will make it easier for municipalities to build their contact tracing programs. “It lifts the burden on the health department to train individuals,” she said. Counard, who reviewed the Oakton curriculum and shared the idea with state health officials, said contact tracing is a labor-intensive but successful tool in containing infectious diseases, such as the SARS outbreak.“(Contact tracing) is really important. It’s basic bread-and-butter public health work that you do for any of the infectious diseases,” Counard said. “This is not unique to COVID-19, but it is a huge need.”AdvertisementOften, tracers are reaching out to as many as 10 close contacts for every new COVID-19 diagnoses, she said. In Skokie, which has reported a total of 539 COVID-19 cases, contact tracers working for the village, many in a volunteer capacity, have notified more than 2,000 people about potential exposure, Counard said. The Oakton program will begin with online courses May 26 and has room for 60 students in its first section, said Jesse Ivory, dean for the Skokie campus and for adult and continuing education. The class costs $299 and will focus on interpersonal skills, keeping health information private and apps used to help with contact tracing, among other areas.While there is no certification required to work as a contact tracer, Ivory said the program could help people quickly find a job in a growing field. The work has typically been performed by health officials.“COVID-19 has presented the need to scale (up) the number of contact tracers that are available, and so now we’re looking to our general public to be able to serve and come in,” she said. “With that, folks do need baseline training.”Smith, the school’s president, said the course will also highlight how“The program focuses on educational disparities and health disparities that we’ve seen as a result of the pandemic and will help those who take the program to learn to be empathetic and culturally competent in working with diverse communities who are adversely impacted by COVID-19,” Smith said.AdvertisementOakton’s course predominantly caters to local students, but anyone can apply to participate since it will be offered in online modules over a four-week period. Participants must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma, access to technology and English proficiency.echerney@chicagotribune.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMay 07, 2020 at 1:28 pmAs efforts to expand contact tracing become a priority in Illinois, new training programs at local colleges could help fill the gap by supplying valuable workers to local health departments that need to keep tabs on COVID-19 infections.Oakton Community College was the first Chicago-area school to announce its online course, which is expected to begin later this month. Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine in Springfield is also developing a program, but the dates have not been finalized.Advertisement“We have heard the call...

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Elyssa Cherney

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

Need a job? The coronavirus pandemic puts contact tracers in demand, and a local college has a new program to train them.

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