Boston: Contact data shows distancing making 'big difference,' Baker says

BOSTON — Around 5,000 people, both COVID-19 patients and people they've interacted with, have been contacted through a community tracing program that Gov. Charlie Baker said will be "a key element toward not only stopping the spread" of the contagious disease but also understanding who's been affected.

"We literally spent most of the month of April sort of standing this thing up, and I would say that the early returns are good, but we have a long way to go here and we'll have a lot more to say about it in the coming weeks," Baker said during a press briefing Thursday.

Baker on April 3 announced the launch of a new tracing program, a collaboration with the nonprofit organization Partners in Health, intended to identify the close contacts of people who test positive for COVID-19, inform them of possible exposure and offer isolation resources. At the time, Baker described it as a first-in-the-nation effort and said officials hoped to have about 1,000 people working on the team by the end of the month.

Almost four weeks later, Baker said there are now "just about" 1,000 people on board...

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/contact-data-shows-distancing-making-big-difference-baker-says,603592?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3HnhvZ8n9P0FeJuno6r2JWTs1rTb4l2CR-HRwIfr8nqjgUR5lp0mWQvjk#Echobox=1588298835