Two critical factors in Indiana’s ability to reopen for business rests in finding people infected with the coronavirus — the testing piece — and then locating the people they could have infected and letting them know of their exposure — the tracing piece.

Public health officials routinely do contact tracing for other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis or HIV, but never on such a large scale as the one the coronavirus requires. To help meet the demand, the state signed a $42 million contract with Maximus to oversee a call center with at least 500 contact tracers.

On May 18, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said that the state was now overseeing contact tracing for all 92 counties. Two days later she said that the state had received reports of sham contact tracers reaching out and asking for “inappropriate” information.

Here’s what you need to know about contact tracing:

What sort of questions should I expect contact tracers to ask?

The only questions they will ask will be to verify your identity and ask if you have had any symptoms of the coronavirus. Contact tracers will not ask for any financial or other personal information.

This call or text sounds suspicious. How do I know it’s legit?

The actual text message says it’s from the Indiana State Department of Health and the department is trying to reach you “about an important matter” regarding your health. It will then ask you to call 833-670-0067 for more information. If there’s a different number, that could be a scam, so contact the Indiana State Department of Health.

How did the contact tracers get my name?

Contact tracers will tell you only that you had a potential exposure. They will not tell you who that person was, just as if you test positive for the coronavirus they will not reveal your identity to anyone you may have infected.

I feel fine, so why are they calling me?

Even though you feel fine, they will ask you to quarantine yourself in your home for 14 days and monitor yourself for symptoms. The idea behind quarantine is that people may infect others with the virus before they start experiencing symptoms themselves. So to make sure that does not happen, you need to stay away from others.

Will that be the only message I receive?

After the initial call, you should receive a daily text or email to assess your signs and symptoms. If you do not answer the text, you will be contacted by phone.

What happens if I develop symptoms?

If you have symptoms, you should be tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Even if the result is negative, you will need to continue quarantining for the whole two week period because you could test negative one day and be positive the next.

And if the coronavirus test is positive?

If you become a confirmed case you will now be asked to self-isolate in your home, ideally with your own bathroom and bedroom to lower the risk that you will infect anyone else in the home. Anyone else in your home will now be considered a close contact and expected to quarantine.

Will the state tell anyone else about my status?

There have been reports in other places of health departments sharing information with law enforcement agencies to let them know in advance if they are called to a house with a person infected with the coronavirus.

But Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said Friday that does not happen in Indiana. Contact tracers will urge people who are sick to let any public safety official who needs to come to their home know they are infected in advance so that person can take proper precautions.

Can’t they just check my cellphone data to find my close contacts? 

There have been discussions elsewhere of using cellphones to determine people’s proximity to one another, but Indiana elected not to trace contacts that way.

How many people are in quarantine?

Each day Indiana has been reporting several hundred new confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Even if each of those people only had contact with two others during the infectious period, the numbers quickly add up.

Some states, such as Massachusetts, include the number of people in quarantine in their coronavirus statistics. Last week, for instance, nearly 23,800 people in Massachusetts were under quarantine.

At this point Indiana is not including such information on its daily dashboard.

Why is all of this necessary?

Public health officials believe this is the best way to stop the spread of a highly infectious disease like COVID-19, short of asking us all to stay at home indefinitely. Asking people who may become ill to quarantine could prevent them from inadvertently infecting others and allowing the number of cases to skyrocket.

“I often liken this to a forest fire,” said Thomas Duszynski, director of epidemiology education at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Fairbanks School of Public Health. “The sooner we can get to those burning embers before it takes ablaze, the faster we can tamp it out.”

Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at 317-444-6354 or [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.

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