MEMPHIS, Tenn. — By mid-July, thanks to federal grant money, five dozen newly hired, dedicated contact tracers in Shelby County will keep close tabs on those who test positive and their immediate contacts.
Those positions will allow the city of Memphis and Shelby County Health Department workers to return to previous roles.
As of Friday, the posting for 20 or so open contact tracer positions remain open on the Shelby County website and will be through Monday night.
ZipRecruiter lists the salary range between $32,000 and nearly $44,000.
"This is a great opportunity for people with a variety of different backgrounds," Shelby County Health Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter said. "Someone doesn't have to be a skilled contact tracer to apply for the positions, so we will take people very early in their careers, people who may be retired and are looking for six or seven months worth of employment. We clearly encourage those who are bilingual or multilingual and multi-cultural to apply so that we can have team members that represent the community that they serve."
Contact tracers plan an essential role in combating COVID-19's spread locally.
They interview new positive cases - usually by phone - and find out when their symptoms began. Contact tracers also find out who they had contact with during their infectious period and reach out to those contacts to make sure they are tested and quarantined for 14 days.
Then there's the monitoring.
Contact tracers also check on those positive cases to make sure they're still in isolation, along with any help they may need in isolation, such as grocery delivery.
They also keep tabs on the positive contacts and if they've developed any COVID-19 symptoms.
As of Friday, 72% of Shelby County's total COVID-19 cases were closed contact tracing investigations, with more than 12,000 contacts identified and more than 5,000 contacts currently in quarantine.
Health experts said the closed investigations percentage fell from its peak of 80% in early June, but they expect that percentage to rise again once the new contact tracers are hired and trained.
The 141 new Shelby County Health Department positions dedicated to COVID-19 containment - including contact tracers, nurses, and lab technicians - will all work together in a building near Mill Branch Road and I-240.
If you are interested in applying for the open contact tracer positions, go to: https://www.shelbycountytn.gov/3302/Employment-Opportunities.
