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NYC Has Prevented Up to 15,000 Potential New COVID-19 Cases Through Its Test & Trace Effort
Sep 16, 2020
Mayor de Blasio today announced that nearly 80 percent of all positive COVID cases are completing the City’s Test & Trace Corps’ intake, surpassing the program’s initial benchmark goals. To date, the program has also potentially prevented up to 15,000 new COVID-19 cases. Nearly three months since the program’s launch, COVID-related visits to emergency departments, case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths, and test positivity are at their lowest since the epidemic began.
“With hospitalizations and test positivity at their lowest point since the beginning of the epidemic, the verdict is clear: Test & Trace is working,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. New York City is a model for the rest of the nation and we will continue to build on this strong foundation to reopen our city safely.”
“Every evidence-based benchmark the City’s Test & Trace Corps exceeds emphasizes the commitment our tracers and New Yorkers have to help stop the spread of COVID-19, continue to safely reopen, and keep their family, friends, and colleagues protected against this pandemic,” said Test & Trace Corps Executive Director Ted Long, MD. “We will continue to do everything possible to ensure positive cases are reached and have the support they need to safely isolate and keep lowering rates of COVID cases and hospitalizations.”
The Test & Trace Corps is the City’s comprehensive effort to test, trace, and treat every case of COVID-19. Through a partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Corps allows the City to immediately isolate and care for those who test positive for the virus and then rapidly track, assess, and quarantine anyone they may have infected.
To help all New Yorkers ‘safely separate’ at home and monitor their health status, the Take Care pillar of the Test & Trace Corps also offers free hotel rooms with wraparound services for New Yorkers who are unable to safely separate in their own homes. For those safely separating at home, contact tracers perform daily calls and conduct in-person visits as necessary. These calls allow tracers to gauge the progress of cases, ensure proper compliance with separation protocol, and connect patients to more supportive services as necessary. Today, 96% of all COVID-19 cases and 93% of contacts reported following isolation and quarantine requirements during their conversation with a contact tracer.
Additional information on the Test & Trace Corps, including program metrics, is available here.