Pennsylvania health officials are echoing pleas to follow covid-19 health guidelines and cooperate with contact tracing efforts as infections continue to reach new heights.

At a news briefing Wednesday afternoon, Michael Huff, director of testing and contact tracing, once again asked Pennsylvanians to answer the calls of case investigators and contact tracers, cooperate with interviews and adhere to public health guidelines.

Huff also described the state’s plan to distribute more than 3.8 million rapid antigen tests from the company AbbotBinaxNOW, which were allocated to Pennsylvania by the federal government. The tests are being distributed on a weekly basis based on per capita needs, with the state receiving roughly 250,000 a week. The distribution began in October and will continue through the end of December, he said.

The plan to distribute the tests involves identifying populations with “substantial risk for community spread,” Huff said, with approximately six counties per week receiving the tests, as well as any counties experiencing an outbreak.

His update comes one day after state Health Secretary Rachel Levine extended the state’s existing mask order and implemented new restrictions for out-of-state travelers.

“Citizens of Pennsylvania have individual responsibility to contribute to proper behavior and to adhere to public health guidance to protect themselves and others,” Huff said. “Public health controls are only as effective as the willingness of individuals to carry them out.”

During the briefing, Huff said contact tracing efforts – while bolstered by around 1,600 tracers and 150 outside groups who assist throughout the state – are slowed by the mounting case load. Huff acknowledged that while the state has a goal of contacting covid-positive individuals within 24 hours, that’s only happening about 25% of the time – down from 80% of cases over the summer.

“As the number of cases increase – and we have seen a significant increase, not only in Pennsylvania but across the country – it does put an increased demand on our case investigation and contact tracing,” Huff said, noting that the Department of Health has prioritized, reassigning some individuals to help with contact tracing response.

Between Sunday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 7, according to the state, there were 1,672 contact tracers monitoring 8,395 contacts who were identified during the case investigations.

When asked if the Department of Health was devising ways to improve contact tracing, particularly to reach people who simply won’t pick up the phone, Huff pointed to Covid Alert PA, the state’s mobile app that conducts contact tracing via Bluetooth. The app was introduced in September and has been downloaded more than 510,000 times, according to the state. There have been only 268 people who, after confirming their covid-19 diagnosis, used the app to send a total of 91 exposure alerts to close contacts.

Officials are now prioritizing certain case investigations to reach vulnerable populations first, such as those who live in long-term care facilities or those with comorbidities, Huff said. Investigators are also prioritizing situations in which there is a known outbreak in a particular area or population. That prioritization can sometimes contribute to contact tracing delays for others.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)