NEW YORK — New York City’s effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus through contact tracing has been hampered by the reluctance of some people with the virus to provide information to tracers.
The New York Times reports that only 35 percent of the 5,347 city residents who tested positive or were presumed positive for COVID-19 in the first two weeks of the contact tracing program gave information about their close contacts.
The dean of the public health school at Rutgers University tells The New York Times that the 35 percent rate for eliciting contacts is “very bad.”
Dr. Ted Long, head of New York City’s new Test and Trace Corps, defended the program Sunday and said 69 percent of the people who complete an interview provide contacts.
