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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The state's COVID-19 contact tracing program that began in April 2020, ended this month amid the increasing cases of the Omicron variant nationwide.
The Boston Globe reported that no state-funded workers were left to help track new infections, local health departments have been advised by the state to only do contact tracing for COVID-19 cases in group settings at facilities like homeless shelters, healthcare centers, nursing homes, daycares, and schools.
The change arrived as health officials began to shift resources to testing and vaccination efforts as the number of hospitalizations increased.
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The program, known as the COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative, was created by the Baker-Polito administration to respond to the surge of cases at the beginning of the pandemic. It was a joint effort between the state's Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Health Connector, Partners in Health, and Accenture.
According to the state's statistics, the program successfully responded to an average 63% of total statewide new confirmed cases, supporting half a million cases and a quarter million contacts through the duration of their quarantine.
The CTC also implemented MassNotify, the official exposure notification system for the state.
WBZ's Charlie Bergeron (@CharlieBergeron) reports.
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