(WAND) - Governor JB Pritzker announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for public health organizations to help with COVID-19 contact tracing efforts.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will award a grant to one organization in each of the nine regions outlined in Governor Pritzker's COVID-19 resurgence mitigation plan with Cook County and Chicago standing up their own contact tracing programs with community organizations.
Each of the nine organizations will serve as coordinators in their region, awarding sub-grants to community-based organizations in their region who can most effectively conduct tracing, education and outreach.
The NOFO will be available on the IDPH website on Friday, July 24, 2020.
“Today I’m proud to announce that applications for community-based organizations to obtain funding through IDPH to collaborate with local health departments will open on Friday. This opportunity – called the COVID-19 Pandemic Health Navigator Program – is geared toward organizations able to serve as coordinators for their region, sub-awarding to other agencies, across three main areas of work: education and outreach, contact tracing, and resource coordination for those who need to isolate,” said Governor Pritzker. “Because Chicago and its immediate suburbs are running their own community programs, these partnerships will be with regional leaders outside of Cook County. Most important to our ability to minimize outbreaks is the efforts of everyday people to do their part: if one of our statewide force of 1,600 contact tracers calls you, please answer.”
The funding will help organizations in contact tracing efforts through the following three areas:
- Provide education and outreach to promote everyday preventive actions to help slow the spread of COVID-19, as well as identify populations at greater risk of infection, and provide information to breakdown myths and rumors.
- Conduct contact tracing through interviews and provide follow up information for close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
- Coordinate resources, such as food, laundry, and even housing if needed, for cases or close contacts of cases who need to isolate or quarantine.
“By working with established community-based organizations, we are hoping to reach people who may be at higher risk of infection, but hesitant to talk with health officials,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “We need people who are trusted in communities across the state to let people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case know that they need to monitor their health and take steps to potentially prevent spread of the virus to their family, friends, co-workers, and other community members. This is how we will help prevent outbreaks and the need to close businesses or institute other temporary restrictions.”
More than 1,600 contact tracers are currently available in Illinois. The number of staff needed to conduct contact tracing varies depending on factors, including:
- Number of people seeking medical care or testing
- Number of new cases per day
- Amount of time that has passed from when symptoms start to positive test results
- Number of contacts identified of each confirmed case
- How quickly patients are isolated, and contacts are notified and advised to stay home, self-monitor, and maintain social distance from others
