Contact tracing is the next big hurdle in the push to re-open cities

Between the lines: State and city budgets are being hammered by the economic fallout of COVID-19, making it harder to find the resources to hire and train people to contact trace or acquire needed technologies.

Some governments are recruiting volunteers, retirees and students to do the work. But the sheer number of people needed — at least 100,ooo across the U.S., per Johns Hopkins — and the open-ended duration of the work makes that a very daunting task.

“We haven’t seen a big push coming from the federal government in either traditional contact tracing or these technology-based approaches,” said Josh Michaud, associate director for Global Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “That leaves most of the legwork and decision-making to the states and local authorities.”