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(BOSTON) — As efforts continue to battle the Covid 19 pandemic in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker is asking for the public’s help. Massachusetts recently launched a first-in-the-nation contact tracing program, through which officials seek to track the spread of the virus by isolating the infected. The only negative so far, according to the governor, is that call teams from the Community Tracing Collaborative haven’t been as successful in reaching residents as they would like. Baker and the head of the collaborative told Bay State residents on Thursday that if they receive a call from the 833 or 857 Area Code, with a caller ID that reads: “MA COVID TEAM”, they should answer that call. The coalition team member will advise of a positive test result, and ask about contact that person may have had with others. Baker stressed that the team members will not be seeking personal information, only information related to Covid 19.
Since calls began on April 12, tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents have participated in contact tracing. Staffed with more than 1,600 tracers, the Tracing Collaborative has reached nearly 14,000 confirmed cases and established more than 7,500 of their contacts since calls began on April 12. In part due to effective social distancing measures, the median number of contacts reported by each confirmed case remains approximately two.
To learn more about the MA COVID Team and the Community Tracing Collaborative, visit www.mass.gov/MATracingTeam.