Gov. Inslee outlines contract tracing guidelines

OLYMPIA, Wash.-- Washington Governor Jay Inslee spoke at a press conference Tuesday, detailing the implementation of the state’s plans for COVID-19 Contact and Tracing System initiative.

Inslee said the initiative signifies Washington’s transition from early social distancing measures to reopening, testing, and tracing.

“This initiative will be a state-wide extension of what local public health districts have historically done for other diseases, such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and the like," Inslee said. "But it will be at a much grander scale, as it needs to be, given the extent of the COVID-19 virus.”

The initiative is comprised of five steps to contain the virus:

1. Quarantining individuals when they first begin exhibiting symptoms
2. Wider COVID-19 testing with quick results.
3 . Isolate any coronavirus-positive individuals
4. Identify, notify, and test anyone that infected individuals may have come into contact with and require them to quarantine while awaiting test results.

Inslee added that by the end of this week, the state’s new Contact Tracing Team will have 1,371 members trained.

That team will include professional interviewers, whom Inslee said will respect confidentiality and privacy. Members of the Contact Tracing Team will not ask for immigration status, marital status, financial information, or Social Security numbers.