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While others are dreaming of a white Christmas, Queens contact tracer Joseph Ortiz is wishing for a pink slip.
“I want to be fired. If I no longer have a job that means COVID-19 no longer exists,” said Ortiz, 31, who’s worked for the New York City Test and Trace Corps since May. “My job would no longer be needed and that would be a dream come true. We could all move on.”
But no. Ortiz, 31, a lifelong New Yorker with a master’s degree in public health, knows wishes don’t always come true — even with a vaccine getting emergency-use authorization from the FDA.
Also read: Here’s when most Americans will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine
Amid a fierce second wave of the coronavirus, the city’s test and trace operation that tracks COVID-19 cases to stop infections is currently beefing up staff by about 12.5%, not downsizing. New York City’s test and trace initiative runs separately from New York state’s program, according to a corps press representative. The city’s operation reports to the mayor and shares data with the state.
Additional staffing for New York City’s initiative, which has a $1 billion budget in city and federal funds, began at the end of November, according to NYC Test and Trace Corps deputy executive director Jackie Bray. “We are hiring about 500 more people in anticipation of the second wave,” she said.
New recruits will join nearly 4,000 contact tracers, a diverse group that speaks 40 languages. A recent push added more Yiddish- and Russian-speaking contact tracers. Expansion efforts focus primarily on communities most impacted by COVID-19.
What’s the typical profile of a contact-tracer team member? It’s people from all races and backgrounds, and nearly 70% women, according to Bray.
“Public health-care is a field that is dominated by women,” she said. “In some ways this is emotional labor. You’re on the phone with people in what can be really tough moments for them.”
And the tough moments keep on coming. “We started accepting new applications and doing new interviews about two weeks ago,” Bray told MarketWatch on Dec. 8, adding that the corps attrition rate of under 10% has been lower than she expected. “It’s incredibly labor intensive work. To do really good contact tracing you need a ton of people.”
Also required is the public’s cooperation, a hurdle that has eased somewhat over the past seven months.
“People are wary about sharing their private health information, or any information with a complete stranger,” said Ortiz, whose field work as a community engagement specialist means he’s knocked on New Yorkers’ doors. Yes, some of those doors have been slammed in his face.
“That happens all the time,” he said. On the other hand, Ortiz said that colleagues have been asked in for lunch by some residents. (The invitations were declined, he added.)
A tracer can make a dozen calls during a typical day.
“There are always people who don’t want to engage,” said Ortiz. “Making sure that the public trust is there helps. Hiring people from—and who know—communities they’re working in is part of building that trust. When you build trust people are more likely to engage. ”
According to Bray, Test and Trace Corps numbers speak to that. “We have managed over 102,00 cases,” she said, adding that they are hitting desired goals. “We wanted to reach 90% of cases and we wanted to complete intake with 75% of cases.”
“When we reach out we want 75% of cases to complete interviews with us and complete daily monitoring,” she continued. “We don’t just talk to you once. We talk to you every day for your entire isolation or quarantine.”
“Fundamentally it’s a massive phone operation,” Bray said. “But if you don’t have a phone we’re going to come find you.” Around 600 tracers work in person, she added. “It’s their job to find anyone that we can’t find on the phone.”
See: Queens, N.Y., critical-care nurse becomes first person in U.S. to receive COVID-19 vaccine
Reaching out by phone and on foot continues and intensifies as the second COVID-19 wave bears down. As a case investigator with a graduate degree in public health whose work involves connecting with individuals as well as workplaces, Washington Heights resident Sivanthy Vasanthan, 24, knows that all too well.
“I don’t have an epidemiology background, but those who do said to expect a second wave in late fall or early winter and that’s exactly what happened,” she said. “I’m absolutely concerned. Of course it’s scary.
“What’s been disheartening is not the work itself,” she said. “Knowing that I’m a bit busier than before is more scary because of what it means for the city.
“It’s been a long time since March,” said Vasanthan, adding that there’s fatigue about social distancing and mask wearing. “One wish of mine is to help people find the energy to keep doing all that.”
More New York City news: Vaccines, though hugely welcome, come too late for many
Beyond wishes, she, like others in her field, has concrete benchmarks for success. One measure is reaching out to all of the cases she’s assigned. The other concerns a deeper connection.
“Life events are really personal. They leave a mark,” she said. “So when someone opens up to me — a complete stranger — and shares a life experience that’s incredible. It really makes us appreciate what we’re doing and why it’s so important.”
