TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey is spending millions of dollars on its contact tracing program – it’s even working on a phone app – but the results thus far have been less than inspiring unless, of course, you’re looking for validaton that there’s still some will among the general population to resist government intrusions. Then you might be feeling pretty good about this!
Check it out:
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According to the state’s own reported results…
Contact tracers have reached out to 86% of cases reported to their system.
22% aren’t answering (or hang up).
56% refuse to cooperate, a number representing about 1 out of ever 3 calls.
When you add it all up? Significantly less than half of all calls are yeilding any information. Millions of dollars are being spent to develop a very partial image of this pandemic, one which is leaving most cases unresolved and certainly not helping health officials replicate the “spider web of contacts” (as it’s been described by some) to effectively combat the spread of the virus. That’s probably why, when asked at Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing how people are getting infected, the woman-who-needs-an-introduction Judy Persichilli lamely offered “we are starting to collect that information.”
In other words: they don’t know.
And yet they presume to impose dramatic restrictions designed to flatten the curve or slow the spread or stop all cases/deaths without knowing how, precisely, it spreads? Lovely. Absolutely lovely!
I’m going to make two predictions, although I probably shouldn’t because I don’t want to give them any ideas…
(1) The Karen caucus will increasingly turn to “sewer sludge” testing to supplant contact tracing, but it’s going to be expensive even compared to contact tracing.
(2) Another option… someone is going to propose making cooperation with contract tracing mandatory and not cooperating punishable by a fine (like they’re trying to do with masks in stores). You heard it here first.
