Contact Tracing Was Already Hard. Community Spread Is Making It Worse

Contact tracers have struggled for months to manage the massive undertaking of effectively tracking and stopping the chain of coronavirus infections in the region. Now they face a new challenge: bracing for a possible explosion of cases during the holiday season with only their existing slate of resources.

As the pandemic has stretched into its ninth month and fatigue with coronavirus-related restrictions has set in, cases in the D.C. region have soared to levels not seen since the spring.
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DCist/WAMU reporters spoke with local officials and public health experts throughout the region to review what they are learning about how COVID-19 is spreading through communities, and to understand how effective local contact tracing efforts have been up to this point in the pandemic. Read full article.