If you get a call from the Lane County Public Health department, officials say ‘please take it.’ This comes out of concern as non-compliance in the COVID-19 contact tracing effort continues to grow.
When a positive coronavirus case is entered into Oregon’s database, Public Health tries to reach that person by phone to begin the disease investigation.
That involves identifying any other people who may have been in contact long enough to be exposed and then reaching out to them. Public Health spokesperson Jason Davis said too many of those secondary contacts are completely out of the prevention loop.
“People who are either not available to be reached or not compliant in the isolation and quarantine process.”
There are currently 652 Lane County residents considered “under monitoring” for symptoms. But Davis said nearly 155 of them are either completely unaware of their status or are unwilling to take the recommended steps to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
In Lane County, 23 people have died from COVID-19 and there have been a total of 1,959 cases since the start of the pandemic.
