New York City tries to shift focus from lackluster contact tracing results
Source: Politico
NEW YORK Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration rolled out its contact tracing program to great fanfare, promising it would help ensure New York Citys re-emergence from the crush of the coronavirus.
But things didnt go as planned and after spending a week on the defensive City Hall is now seeking to shift the perception of a lackluster program cursed by a turf war between the mayor and his health department.
City officials this week began emphasizing different data points to present the program as a success, seeking external support from doctors and doing radio interviews to shape the narrative.
Among our cases that complete our interview, meaning ones that weve asked about, whether they have contacts, 74 percent to date have shared contacts with us. In the last week alone, week three, 86 percent of our cases, people newly diagnosed with coronavirus that got through our interview gave us contacts 86 percent, Ted Long, the doctor overseeing the program, said during a press briefing this week.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2020/06/25/new-york-city-tries-to-shift-focus-from-lackluster-contact-tracing-results-1294870