Fairfax County will hire hundreds of contact tracers

Contact tracers play a key role in curbing the spread of COVID-19. [NBC Bay Area]

The Fairfax County Health Department plans to hire up to 400 contact tracers to help monitor people who might be infected with COVID-19 and anyone they’ve been in contact with. 

The Health Department has been conducting contact investigations since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak using staff relocated from other positions. But the agency doesn’t have sufficient, long-term capacity for the scope of contact tracing needed in the months ahead as the county continues its phased-in reopening. 

The agency has partnered with the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) to hire and train staff for COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. These staff will be employees of IPHI and will be deployed to assist with Fairfax County’s contact tracing operation. Some could start as early as the second week of June.

People will be hired for these positions: 

• Case interviewers are responsible for performing the initial interview of people with a probable or confirmed COVID-19 infection to gather information about symptoms, exposures, and contacts. They people also provide information about the illness and public health guidance on the methods of disease prevention and control.
• Contact interviewers gather information from people who have been in contact with someone with a probable or confirmed COVID infection, refer them for testing if they are symptomatic, enroll them in the monitoring program, and inform them about quarantine protocols. 
• Interviewer supervisors manage a team of approximately 10 contact interviewers and/or case interviewers. 

More information about these positions, requirements for education and experience, and applications, can be found here.  

During the hiring process, the Health Department and IPHI will be actively seeking individuals with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The department will also hire a large number of community health workers with a deep understanding of certain neighborhoods and populations that need extra support.