As contact tracing ebbs in parts of US, NYC stays committed

NEW YORK (AP) — Coronavirus contact tracing programs across the U.S. scaled back their ambitions as cases surged in winter, but New York City has leaned into its $600 million tracing initiative.

The city hired more tracers during the holiday season surge and in early March hit its goal of reaching at least 90% of people who test positive, a mark it hadn’t reached since around Thanksgiving. Last week, the number hit 96%.

Overwhelmed tracing programs elsewhere confronted the wave by switching to automated calls, limiting the types of cases they trace or telling infected people simply to reach out to their contacts themselves.

But New York remains committed, saying tracing helped curb the city’s second surge and is all the more necessary now as vaccination campaigns race to outpace the spread of worrisome viral variants.

“This is the danger zone, where we can’t let our guard down,” contact tracing chief Dr. Ted Long says.

Still, considerable challenges remain. Less than half of people who test positive name anyone they might have exposed to the virus. Some stop answering a blizzard of follow-ups meant to ensure they’re staying isolated.

There’s some debate among public health experts over whether local governments should cut back on contact tracing and focus more on vaccination.

After enduring the country's deadliest coronavirus surge last spring, New York City set up what appears to be the biggest contact tracing effort in any U.S. city, now counting about 4,000 tracers and a $582 million budget for this fiscal year and next. Another $184 million is budgeted for services such as voluntary hotel stays for people who can't isolate at home.

Tracing infected people was easier in mid-August, when the city had about 200 new cases daily. It became a monumental...