IOWA, USA — Some Iowans who have tested positive for COVID-19 are still waiting on the phone call from a contact tracer.
Others got it right away.
Across Iowa, state or county health employees working as "contact tracers" are call COVID-19 positive patients to gather information about a patient's recent whereabouts and reach out to their recent contacts. Then, they notify someone that they've been around a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Last week, Local 5's Eva Andersen spoke with several contact tracers. Now, we're looking into the experience on the other end of the phone call.
Here are the stories of three Iowans who have tested positive for COVID-19.
21-Year-Old College Student from Black Hawk County: Received call within 24 hours
"Right away when I started showing symptoms it became very real," said Tyler Hospodarsky.
Tyler, who will soon be a junior at UNI, got his positive test result June 26.
The next day he got a call from the Iowa Department of Public Health.
"They basically just asked me who have you come into contact with, where have you been," Tyler said.
Tyler said he gave the contact tracer general information about where he had been.
However, he recalls they didn't ask for any specific information of his close contacts to notify them, which contact tracers have told Local 5 is typically a part of the process, which tracers record on an IDPH epidemiology form.
"It's weird for me because I don't understand why they would want to be tracking it if they weren't going to do anything with that information," Tyler said.
Tyler notified his close contacts himself, including his coworkers.
"I know what it's like to have to call people that you've been in contact with and how embarrassing those phone calls can be," Tyler said. He said he didn't think twice to make sure people he knew didn't end up contracting the disease.
36-year-old health care worker from Polk County: received call within 3-4 days
It's a different story a 36-year-old man who works at a hospital in Des Moines.
The Polk County resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, got the call within three days. Unlike Tyler, he was asked to share contact information of people he'd been around, which is part of the process.
But he said he didn't feel comfortable sharing the names of anyone, or even the name of his hospital, saying quote, "I told them that it was confidential and I would not disclose that information."
Furthermore, the man said the Marion County Department of Public Health initially called his parents in Marion County, thinking he lived with them still. He thought that was an invasion of privacy, because he hadn't yet told his parents, and he is over the age of 18.
"I didn’t want my parents to worry about me as I didn’t have any signs or symptoms," he said.
Family of 1-year-old in Story County
Five days after the positive test results came for their one-year-old, parents of a baby in Story County still haven't received a call from a tracer.
The boy's mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, is concerned with how the process is being handled statewide, saying quote, "Story County has shown a lack of urgency in contacting our family."
Her one-year-old received a positive test result following an emergency room visit July 1, after he had been "gasping for breath."
She said she and her husband have notified close contacts, including the child's daycare.
But she's worried the state doesn't have a way to hold accountable others who test positive and don't take the initiative to notify their contacts, including child care facilities.
She adds, "Concern lies where individuals lack the integrity or resources to notify others in the way we did, therefore risking other Iowa residents."
A representative for Story County Health/Mary Greeley Medical Center told Local 5 that the Iowa Department of Public Health is handling most of Story County's contact tracing. They only have three contact tracers, and the representative said perhaps the delay for the family is due to the holiday weekend.
Local 5 reached out to IDPH and they said they try to reach out to each family within 24-hours of getting that positive result. Local 5 asked about this Story County family's situation, and we are waiting to hear back.
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