Will Co. Successfully Traced 53% Of All Its Coronavirus Cases

WILL COUNTY, IL — Will County Health Department contact tracers have been successful at interviewing 53 percent of residents who tested positive for the coronavirus between Aug, 1-Oct. 24, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.

WCHD had ramped up the Contact Tracing Program in August when Will County reached warning level for the first time due to its COVID-19 metrics. To slow the spread of the virus, contact tracers reach out to someone who tests positive to make sure they're self-isolating, and then attempt to find out who they were in contact with who might also be at risk of infection.

The department received a $4.9 million grant from IDPH to hire contact tracers, managers, nurses, and even IT support to ensure that information gathered during the pandemic remains confidential.

In Will County, contact tracers have attempted to contact 84.8 percent of individuals who were confirmed or suspected of contracting the virus. The data does not include individuals in long term care or correctional facilities, according to IDPH.

County contact tracers also attempted to reach "close contacts," that are individuals an infected person may have exposed to the virus. So far, they have attempted to reach 43 percent of close contacts and successfully interviewed 33 percent.

WCHD currently has 35 contact tracers and it plans to hire more as the cases go up. According to IDPH data, the county is on track with its success in contact tracing.

Statewide, contact tracers attempted to reach about 69 percent of cases, but have successfully interviewed just about 53 percent of those people.

For more information, visit dph.illinois.gov/covid19.