Thread by @Andre__Damon

🚨 US states end contact tracing 🚨

Many of the largest American states have officially ended their contact tracing programs, surrendering to the infection of large portions of the US population to COVID-19.

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wsws.org/en/articles/20…

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In recent weeks, over a dozen states have ended or reduced contact tracing, including Michigan, New York, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire, Indiana and others.

beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/…
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The end of contact tracing by states has been carried out quietly, receiving no national news coverage, with the only coverage coming from local newspapers and trade publications.

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“Contact tracing ending in New York State,” reported Albany local ABC News 10 on January 13, writing, “As of this week, New York will no longer expect local health departments to conduct COVID contact tracing for most cases."
news10.com/news/ny-news/c…

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On January 30, local Richmond news station WTKR reported that the Virginia state health department is “phasing out contact tracing” and no longer “attempting to investigate every case of COVID-19.”

wtkr.com/news/virginia-…
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On January 27, local Ohio station WKYC reported that “The Ohio Department of Health is no longer asking K-12 schools and local health departments to contact trace after each positive coronavirus case at school.”
cleveland.com/news/2022/01/o…
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“Broad community contract [sic] tracing for COVID in Michigan is coming to an end in most cases,” reported Bridge Michigan on January 14.
bridgemi.com/michigan-healt…

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“The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has shifted away from performing individual-level case investigation and contact tracing,” reported Mlive.

mlive.com/public-interes…

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Oklahoma “State Health Departments transition away from contact tracing... Up until now, individuals who had been tested for COVID... and tested positive would get a call from a disease investigator. However, that will no longer be the case.”
- KJRH
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kjrh.com/news/local-new…

On January 21, the Indianapolis Star reported that Indiana’s health department “issued new guidance this week that allows schools to end contract [sic] tracing programs and individual notification of close contacts.”

indystar.com/story/news/edu…

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There is no medical basis for ending the contact tracing programs, and nothing about COVID-19 that has made contact tracing less important, as demonstrated by China’s enormously successful efforts to save the lives of its population, which rely heavily on contact tracing.

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With the highly contagious Omicron variant capable of overcoming vaccination and spreading more rapidly, keeping infected people away from others is the single most effective way to stop the spread of the disease, and, by implication, save lives.

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1488582480076623873

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Contact tracing is, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a “key strategy for interrupting chains of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and reducing COVID-19-associated mortality.”
who.int/publications-d….

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The WHO recommended that countries “Prioritize active, exhaustive case finding and immediate testing and isolation, painstaking contact tracing and rigorous quarantine of close contacts.”

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While COVID-19 is potentially debilitating for all, is especially dangerous to people who do not respond to vaccination due to having compromised immune systems, including those suffering from HIV or those who have had organ transplants, who must take immunosuppressants.
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Allowing the deadly disease to spread will be a death sentence for the disabled, condemning them to a life of fear, perpetual social isolation and early death. It will mean that millions of people will be affected by Long COVID, potentially for the rest of their lives.
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The mass infection of the population is dictated by the interests of the financial oligarchy, which sees isolation and quarantine as impediments to getting workers on the job and keeping them there, even when they are sick and an active threat to public health.

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The moves by states and local health officials will facilitate efforts by employers to cover up COVID-19 cases, denying workers sick leave and forcing workers to work through major outbreaks.

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