((PKG)) COVID-19 CONTACT TRACERS
((Banner: COVID-19 Contact Tracers))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Genia Dulot))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((Main characters: 1 female; 1 male))
((NATS in Spanish: Teresita Cruz))
Good afternoon! My name is Teresita Cruz. I am with the
Department of Public Health of Los Angeles County and I would
like to leave a message for Maria Perez.
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
Contact tracing is not a job I thought I would ever do. But as an
L.A. County librarian, we do disaster service work. So, were
called in when there's a disaster and anybody needs help.
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
I received a notice that I was being reassigned to do the COVID-
19 case interviewing. That next day, we went through a series of
training and then the day after that, we started working on case
interviews.
((NATS: Victor Scott))
Hi, good morning. My name is Victor Scott and I'm calling from
the Los Angeles County, Department of Public Health. The
reason for my call today is you recently took a test for COVID-
19. Is that correct?
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
We begin the day with the Department of Public Health. They
send us a list of cases. Those are people who tested
positive. And contacts, those are people that they've been
around. During the week, it's actually been kind of light. But then
on the weekends, since there's not many people working, we do
get a lot of calls. The most calls I've taken were 28 within a day.
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
Because the only way we can stop people from getting sick is to
let people know to stay at home if they were around someone
with COVID-19. Starting two days before you became ill and up
to 10 days after, were you in close contact with anyone?
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
We're going to try to collect as many contacts that they can
remember. Sometimes I have to help them along, jog their
memory. You know, did you visit anyone? Has anyone visited
you? Did you talk to a friend outside for, you know, 20-30
minutes and, you know, didn't wear a mask or what not?
((NATS in Spanish: Teresita Cruz))
Very important that you quarantine yourself during 14 days after
you were in contact with a person who was infected with COVID-
19.
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
I was nervous because I was going to talk to people who, I
thought, potentially were going to be very sick. But I knew the
importance of it. I knew how important it is to reach out to those
sick people who need help, who, maybe, just need somebody
there that they can speak to, to give them the resources they
need.
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
There have been so many of those experiences where it's been,
you know, uplifting. People have been just happy to have
someone to talk to or to ask questions with and they thank you for
the work that you're doing. There have been some very sad ones
where there's a death in the family because of COVID and the
whole house is struggling with COVID-19 at that point.
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
Realizing how many people are sick, realizing how this virus
spreads, how easy it could spread. It doesn't discriminate. It
doesn't care about the person's background. It doesn't care
about the person's age. It doesn't care about where they live or
how they live. It just spreads.
((NATS))
((Banner: COVID-19 Contact Tracers))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Genia Dulot))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((Main characters: 1 female; 1 male))
((NATS in Spanish: Teresita Cruz))
Good afternoon! My name is Teresita Cruz. I am with the
Department of Public Health of Los Angeles County and I would
like to leave a message for Maria Perez.
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
Contact tracing is not a job I thought I would ever do. But as an
L.A. County librarian, we do disaster service work. So, were
called in when there's a disaster and anybody needs help.
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
I received a notice that I was being reassigned to do the COVID-
19 case interviewing. That next day, we went through a series of
training and then the day after that, we started working on case
interviews.
((NATS: Victor Scott))
Hi, good morning. My name is Victor Scott and I'm calling from
the Los Angeles County, Department of Public Health. The
reason for my call today is you recently took a test for COVID-
19. Is that correct?
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
We begin the day with the Department of Public Health. They
send us a list of cases. Those are people who tested
positive. And contacts, those are people that they've been
around. During the week, it's actually been kind of light. But then
on the weekends, since there's not many people working, we do
get a lot of calls. The most calls I've taken were 28 within a day.
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
Because the only way we can stop people from getting sick is to
let people know to stay at home if they were around someone
with COVID-19. Starting two days before you became ill and up
to 10 days after, were you in close contact with anyone?
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
We're going to try to collect as many contacts that they can
remember. Sometimes I have to help them along, jog their
memory. You know, did you visit anyone? Has anyone visited
you? Did you talk to a friend outside for, you know, 20-30
minutes and, you know, didn't wear a mask or what not?
((NATS in Spanish: Teresita Cruz))
Very important that you quarantine yourself during 14 days after
you were in contact with a person who was infected with COVID-
19.
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
I was nervous because I was going to talk to people who, I
thought, potentially were going to be very sick. But I knew the
importance of it. I knew how important it is to reach out to those
sick people who need help, who, maybe, just need somebody
there that they can speak to, to give them the resources they
need.
((Victor Scott, L.A. County Public Health Department COVID-
19 Tracer))
There have been so many of those experiences where it's been,
you know, uplifting. People have been just happy to have
someone to talk to or to ask questions with and they thank you for
the work that you're doing. There have been some very sad ones
where there's a death in the family because of COVID and the
whole house is struggling with COVID-19 at that point.
((Teresita Cruz, Librarian, COVID-19 Tracer))
Realizing how many people are sick, realizing how this virus
spreads, how easy it could spread. It doesn't discriminate. It
doesn't care about the person's background. It doesn't care
about the person's age. It doesn't care about where they live or
how they live. It just spreads.
((NATS))
