contact tracing

Privacy advocates warn the government has kept the information from 2015 MERS patients beyond a justified emergency period.

Speaking at a briefing in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over."

The pandemic has brought many new terms into daily usage. Here are definitions of some of the words used in discussion of the novel coronavirus and how to stem its spread.

As the country's coronavirus cases surge, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for law reform to resume a surveillance program that the Supreme Court halted earlier this month.

Staff in over 400 call centers in Germany work around the clock to notify people if they've been exposed to a positive coronavirus case. The country aims to have one contact tracer per 4,000 people.

NPR surveyed all 50 states to find out how many people they have doing contact tracing — one of the essential tools for keeping outbreaks from flaring up. Look up your state to see how it's doing.

"We will almost certainly see cases here again" Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern predicted last week. "That is not a sign we have failed." The two women in the new cases are in self-isolation.

California is paying to train a huge contingent of contact tracers by July. Many of the new recruits are librarians: they're curious, tech savvy, and great at talking to strangers.

Public health experts say tracing the close contacts of people infected with the coronavirus and getting them all into quarantine is crucial to stopping the pandemic. That's easier said than done.

Online misinformation is fueling a backlash in some places against coronavirus containment strategies such as contact tracing and isolation. Some health officials have even received violent threats.

"The speed with which this has happened is really devastating," says Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. He warns the outbreak will leave no part of the U.S. untouched.

Get friendly with community leaders; be prepared to be judged by others. Disease detectives from California and Liberia share their best insights.