Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced that it's supporting states in helping them build and execute contact tracing programs to control the spread of COVID-19. 

A major contract tracing program is getting underway in New York with hopes that it will prevent the spread of coronavirus and serve as a model for other states trying to quell their own outbreaks.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg have teamed up to launch the program.

Kelly Larson, program director for Bloomberg Philanthropies, told Cheddar Friday the organization is providing support to the state in four areas: online training, technical support, recruitment, and evaluation. 

“We are also providing technical support to the state, in helping them ramp up this contact tracing program," she said. "The governor announced that the state would hire up to 17,000 contact tracers and so, we’re also helping them with recruitment.” 

Contact tracing, which has been used to stymie the spread of diseases such as HIV, Ebola and tuberculosis, is a public health strategy that allows officials to identify people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus and don't know it.

Larson said organizers are working at “exponential speed” to get the program up and running. The pilot program will run throughout the state of New York, beginning in low-risk regions upstate and will make its way down to New York City in the coming weeks. 

Over 30,000 people have applied for the contact tracing positions. However, the number of new COVID-19 cases will determine how many contact tracers are actually needed. 

“What we need to look at is the number of new cases. As the number of those new cases go down, it will require fewer contact tracers. If, in fact, we loosen restrictions a bit and we see people tested with COVID go up, we’ll need to increase the number of contact tracers,” Larson said. 

Bloomberg Philanthropies plans to share its evaluations with other states so they can provide support in controlling the spread of the virus across the country. 

“We know that there will be mistakes, there will be opportunities to learn lessons, and we want to learn from those lessons and share this model with other states around the country, if not the world,” she said.

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Goodyear Blimp at 100: ‘Floating Piece of Americana’ Still Thriving
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
Is U.S. Restaurants’ Breakfast Boom Contributing to High Egg Prices?
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
Load More