Using the simple tools of a telephone, paper and pen, contact tracers across Canada are handling some of the most important work in the fight against COVID-19.
In Alberta, a team of 200 has made thousands of phone calls since the first case was detected in that province two months ago. “We’re working two shifts each day, seven days a week,” said Dr.
David Strong, the medical health officer for Alberta Health Services’ provincial communicable disease program. “We redeployed staff and we also recruited a significant number of medical students coming out of Calgary and Edmonton.” Strong says Alberta Health Services is looking to hire additional contact tracers as the province prepares for the next wave of COVID-19 cases.