San Francisco Was Uniquely Prepared for Covid-19

TO LIVE IN San Francisco for the past 20 years has been to live with outrage that a society so innovative and compassionate can so reliably fail to meet even the most basic challenges of public life.

I'm a coronavirus contact tracer. Asking vulnerable people to stay home isn't always easy.

Just three months ago, I worked as a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library's Main Branch, where I answered questions on a reference desk. Now, I spend my days calling strangers to ask: Have you had any novel coronavirus symptoms in the last three days? Are you able to stay at home? Can we...

An inside look at contact tracing

Contact tracing is the hot new thing! As we described in a previous post, IGHS faculty and staff are at the forefront of national efforts to contain COVID-19 through contact tracing – identifying people who have been in contact with those who have COVID-19 and instructing them to isolate so they...

How everyday Americans have turned disease detectives — armed with a phone

It could be a chapter out of a science fiction book: Librarian becomes disease detective and tracks down deadly virus. For 64-year-old Jensa Woo, she's used to being surrounded by stacks of dystopian novels. But now she's living it and writing her own story as a Covid-19 contact tracer ready to...

Contact Tracing Can Do a Lot More Than Find Coronavirus Cases

When the coronavirus caused San Francisco to close its public libraries in March, Ramses Escobedo, a 41-year-old manager at the Excelsior neighborhood branch, was put on paid furlough. He took advantage of the free time to install shelves in his home and catalogue his wedding photographs. But he...

So You Want to Be a Contact Tracer?

Tens of thousands of people across the United States have applied for the job of cold-calling strangers who may have been exposed to Covid-19. Here’s what it’s like. When Jessica Jaramillo calls someone to talk about the coronavirus, she usually starts with something like this:

Virtual Academy Will Train ‘Disease Detectives’ by Tens of Thousands in CA

One of the keys to reopening our economy — and keeping it open — will rest in the hands of  “disease detectives.” In the medical community, they’re called contact tracers. The name describes exactly how they’ll crack the cases. It’s estimated that Fresno County alone will need 300 of them....

How UCSF is training 10,000 new pandemic detectives to fight the coronavirus

In order for California to reopen its economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom has made it clear that active coronavirus cases need to be tracked aggressively...  Full San Francisco Chronicle Article

UCSF Partners with State to Develop Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 Response

Training Developed for San Francisco Will Be Offered to Counties Across California

UCSF Grand Rounds: A contact tracing army, and dispatches from a New York hospital

The medical community is working furiously to develop measures that may become mainstream in a post-shelter-in-place world. Maybe Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug and possible treatment for COVID-19, will become a household name, and testing a frequent ritual... Read more.