TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County has been at Red Level Three in the state's health advisory system for four weeks now. Meanwhile, local health leaders have said a big problem we face test efficiency, meaning results take several days to come back.
This comes as the number of positive COVID-19 cases increases. Because of that, the need for contact tracing continues to grow as well.
"It's tough because we have this testing issue, where it's lagging. We're not getting tests as we did a month and a half ago, quickly. That puts us in a bind to try to get back to people on a timely basis," Toledo Lucas County Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said.
With school starting and more people back at work, the health department is bringing in more tracers.
Zdogzinski said they got over 300 applications for contact tracers and they've already started hiring people. He says added plan to bring on anywhere from 20 to 40 tracers to help bring efficiency to the process.
"We're going to have another tool to use other than our own staff, the UT students, the MRC of volunteers. So we have more people than we can throw at the concern of COVID-19 and contact tracing," Zgodzinski said.
Zgodzinski said tracing is one of the necessary components in a system that can help control the spread of COVID-19 in Lucas County.
Those other components are efficient testing and lower positive numbers.
"If you're waiting three or four days to get tested and then you're not getting your test back for five, seven, or eight days," Zdogzinski said. "That really does not fold well for the system itself and trying to do what we need to do."
He said hiring more people will help make the process of tracking COVID-19 better in the community.
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