Kendall County Still Lagging In Coronavirus Contact Tracing

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — Kendall County Health Department contact tracers have been successful at interviewing 42.44 percent of residents who tested positive for the coronavirus between Aug, 1-Feb. 6, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.

To slow the spread of the virus, contact tracers reach out to someone who tests positive to make sure they're self-isolating, and then attempt to find out who they were in contact with who might also be at risk of infection.

As of October, Kendall County had reached more people than Will and Cook counties, according to the data, however, it has since underperformed. During the same time frame, from August to February, LaSalle County interviewed 77.28 percent of its positive cases and DeKalb County, with similar metrics, interviewed 80.78 percent of its cases.

Kendall County Health Department Executive Director RaeAnn VanGundy told Patch in an earlier interview she is not sure why the county is lagging slightly, but "what I do know is that our contact tracing staff are working long hours to meet the increased demand."

"As our positivity rate increases, the capacity to reach all cases within 24-48 hours decreases. We have reached a point where the cases are outnumbering our capacity for a quick response," she said. "We are increasing our contact tracing staff to the best of our ability to meet the needs of the community."

In Kendall County, contact tracers have attempted to contact 57.71 percent of individuals who were confirmed or suspected of contracting the virus. The data does not include individuals in long term care or correctional facilities, according to IDPH.

County contact tracers also attempted to reach "close contacts," that are individuals an infected person may have exposed to the virus. So far, they have attempted to reach 78.27 percent of close contacts and successfully interviewed almost 67.13 percent. In this, the county trailed both DeKalb LaSalle Counties.

Statewide, contact tracers attempted to reach about 61.14 percent of cases, but have successfully interviewed just about 47.84 percent of those people.

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