Contact tracing: Who’s in charge??

Editor’s Note: This is the 14th installment of “Our Stories,” a WOW Dems series that tells personal stories related to the critical issues of our time, such as the COVID-19 crisis. This post was written by WOW Dems Communications Committee member Ellen Sloan.

Restaurants I Have Visited (Why Contact Tracing isn’t Working)

I had the good fortune to visit Austin, Texas, in June for my wedding anniversary. We stayed in a downtown hotel and walked to the Lonesome Dove restaurant one night for a great meal. We dutifully wore our masks. We were greeted at the door by their charming maître d’. He took our temperature and then had us each give him our cell number so we could be informed if anyone at the restaurant became sick. I was impressed! This restaurant had done a more thorough job of contact tracing than I had seen in any establishment, either private or government-run.

Private vs. Public in a Pandemic

While some people might balk at giving their cell phone number, it was an effective way to let people know if a staff member was infected with coronavirus. Another restaurant, in Plano, Texas, used Facebook to tell its customers that a staff member had become infected. This restaurant closed its doors, going into quarantine, for two weeks following the infection. I followed the restaurant on Facebook, but if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known about it. Oddly enough, I had eaten there that same week.

These private businesses took it upon themselves to inform, protect, and communicate with their customers. But isn’t that the government’s job? Especially in a pandemic, the government should be doing the job of contact tracing and informing the public to prevent disease spread. If the government doesn’t do it, can we really rely on each individual business to comply and offer the same? No, we can’t rely on each business to comply. They have to worry about keeping their doors open right now. It’s the government’s job to communicate about the virus’ exposure. But they’re not doing it.

A problem for the public

If there were a national number, or website, for contact tracing, people could find out where and when an employee had coronavirus. This would help alleviate worry about exposure, which is affecting the economy and purchase habits. Where is this government resource? Why haven’t we been able to receive information about infection, outside of the news media (which can only do so much)? Why is it the state’s job to contact trace? If states do this more effectively, where are their databases of businesses that have encountered an employee with coronavirus? Shouldn’t the federal government head this up? Yes, there are those who will say this could lead to lawsuits if you find out you were infected by a certain restaurant. But how can you pinpoint where you were infected? Public health is more important than a potential lawsuit which may never see the light of day in the first place.

Why isn’t this being done for the public’s benefit? It’s not being done because our government has failed us. And if something has failed us, maybe it’s time for a change in our government.

 

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