As of February 1st, 2022, the Geary County Health Department and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) will no longer conduct COVID-19 contact outreach and monitoring, otherwise known as contact tracing.
Contact tracing is when Public Health notifies close contacts to let them know that they were exposed to an infectious disease and tells them about the signs and symptoms to watch out for. Participation in contact tracing has always been voluntary. The decision to end contact outreach and monitoring was made due to the surge in the amount of positive COVID-19 cases, and the public's willingness to participate has diminished since the beginning of the pandemic.
"As we enter the third year of this pandemic, public health has to begin to adjust the level of response to help alleviate the strain on the Public Health system," Janet Stanek, Acting Secretary, said. "The pandemic is far from over, but this step is a move toward managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease. The responsibility of protecting yourself and others belongs to all of us."
People who are positive for COVID-19 will now be responsible for letting their close contacts know about their potential exposure. Additionally, if the individual with COVID-19 exposed others at high-risk settings such as schools, correctional facilities, long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, daycares, and churches, KDHE will notify the setting. The setting will be responsible for identifying close contacts and notifying them about the potential exposure.