Virginia revamps scope of contact tracing as COVID-19 testing positivity rate hits 10.8%

The Virginia Department of Health is abandoning efforts to trace close contacts of every person testing positive for COVID-19 as because there are just too many.

Cases grew by nearly 11,000 from Friday morning to Monday morning and are now surpassing more than 3,000 a day, or about double the rate of three weeks ago.

Statewide, cases stood at 258,870 on Monday, an increase of 3,817 over the total reported Sunday, according to the VDH. Deaths increased by eight to 4,208, and statewide hospitalizations rose 61 to 15,356.

The department in a news release Monday said substantial levels of transmission might require local health departments to prioritize contact tracing. The department’s pandemic metrics on Monday showed a high burden of disease throughout the state, including a seven-day testing positivity rate of 10.8%.

The Mount Rogers Health District announced last week that it would suspend contact tracing because the number of new daily cases exceeded the ability to reach everyone.

The director of the Roanoke and Alleghany Health Districts for weeks has been pleading with people who test positive to reach out to people they have been near for the same reasons. The goal is for close contacts to quarantine, monitor for symptoms and get tested.

“As cases of COVID-19 increase across the Commonwealth, this change will allow us to deploy resources where they will have the most impact,” Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver said in a news release. “We urge residents to continue to follow public health guidance on wearing masks and physical distancing, and to notify their circle of friends and family quickly if diagnosed with COVID-19. Also, please answer the phone if a VDH Contact Tracer calls. All these things are helping us in the fight against COVID-19.”

Virginia has hired 2,000 people to work as case investigators and contact tracers in order to help slow the spread of the virus by isolating people with the disease and quarantining those who were exposed.

Virginia plans to follow new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control to prioritize which cases and tracing to prioritize. The list includes contacting household members exposed in the last six days; residents and workers of long-term care and other group homes, those at risk of serious illness or who are involved in a cluster or outbreak.

The state will also follow the CDC quarantine guidelines that still recommend 14 days, but now offer shorter says. People without symptoms can end quarantine after day 10 of exposure, or after seven days with a negative test performed after the fifth day.