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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and acting Department of Health Commissioner Mary Bassett announced on Tuesday, Jan. 11 that with the recent unprecedented rise of new infections, it has become impractical for officials to allocate resources toward contact tracing.
Previously, New Yorkers who tested positive for COVID-19 were contacted by state or local health officials who questioned them about anyone they had close contact with, who were then notified.
Instead, moving forward, healthcare workers are being advised to concentrate their efforts on vaccinating New Yorkers, COVID-19 testing, and sharing information about isolation and quarantining.
“Our approach to contact tracing is changing because of the winter surge,” Bassett said. "The number of people testing positive has been setting records across our state … Our nation, and the world.
“Even today, we received welcome numbers, but they are fourfold higher in terms of positive tests than the beginning of September.”
Officials noted that New York has been setting records for the number of COVID-19 tests being administered across the state, which made it imprudent to continue intensive contact tracing, though local health departments will still have the option to do so.
“Omicron is very contagious, as we’ve been discussing, and many more people are being tested, so that results in a very large number of people testing positive,” Bassett said. “We're dealing with a very short window for intervention to disrupt transmission, which is the point of contact tracing in the first place.
“We’re moving to more self-management when someone tests positive or is exposed, and a less active outreach,” she continued. “Our guidance remains aligned with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), so we’re focusing on helping state and local health department staffs focus on where we can make the biggest difference, and that’s in testing and vaccination.”
Hochul noted that New York has seen approximately 12,000 new cases daily, making it “impossible to do contact tracing as we’ve had in the past.”
“We are going to be allowing counties to decide if they want to contact trace. Everyone knows someone who had it, whether it's themselves, friends, or family, so it doesn’t make sense to have the resources of local public health departments on contact tracing,” she said.
“It feels good that we’re seeing a positive trend (in cases), and it’s a very positive trend we’re seeing,” Hochul continued. “I’m so looking forward to letting the public know when we can start rolling back other mandates and requirements that we’ve had to put in [place to protect people.”
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