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I’M SOLEDAD O’BRIEN. WELCOME TO "MATTER OF FACT." SEVEN MONTHS INTO THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK, WHAT DO WE KNOW? ACCORDING TO NEW DATA FROM THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE U.S. WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS COULD BE 6 TO 24 TIMES HIGHER THAN THE NUMBER OF REPORTED CASES. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? ABOUT 40% OF INFECTED PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE SYMPTOMS, BUT THEY CAN AND DO PASS THE VIRUS TO OTHERS, MANY WHO NEVER SEEK A TEST. BUT THE CURRENT SURGE IS STRAINING OUR TESTING SYSTEM. LABS ARE OVERWHELMED, AND IN SOME PLACES, IT CAN TAKE 4-7 DAYS TO GET RESULTS. A POSITIVE RESULT TRIGGERS THE WORK OF CONTACT TRACERS, WHO WORK AS PART OF OUR PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM. THEIR JOB IS TO CONTACT THOSE EXPOSED AND HELP THEM ISOLATE. MEET CONTACT TRACER, SIVANTHY VASANTHAN, WHO SAYS HER GOALS ARE TO STOP THE SPREAD, AND CALM THE FEAR. MY NAME IS SIVANTHY VASANTHAN, I AM A REMOTE CONTACT TRACER AND I’M BASED IN NEW YORK CITY. CONTACT TRACING IS ONE OF THE FEW TOOLS THAT WE REALLY DO HAVE TO STOP WIDESPREAD CASES IN AN EPIDEMIC OR A PANDEMIC MUCH LIKE COVID-19, BECAUSE THE MORE PEOPLE LIKE I AND OTHER TRACERS ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY AS BEING SICK, WE CAN PREVENTATIVELY TELL OTHER PEOPLE SO THAT THEY ARE GETTING TESTED EARLIER ON AND WE ARE THEN STOPPING THE SPREAD OF THE DISEASE. THERE ARE DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF CONTACTS. ONE DEFINITION THAT WE HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY USING IS ANYONE THAT YOU HAVE HAD CLOSE CONTACT OR BEEN WITH FOR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES AND LESS THAN SIX FEET APART. WHEN I CALL SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A CONTACT OF SOMEONE WITH COVID-19, MANY TIMES, THEY IMMEDIATELY WANT TO KNOW WHO. AND WE DON’T HAVE THAT INFORMATION, AND I ALSO I’M NOT ALLOWED TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION, SO I’LL OFTEN SAY YOU WERE JUST IN CONTACT WITH SOMEBODY WHO WAS KNOWN TO HAVE COVID-19. SO I THINK AT THAT POINT, IT CAN BE CHALLENGING, BECAUSE MANY CONTACTS EXPRESSED FEAR AND PARANOIA, AND I DO HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE TELLING YOUR CONTACTS, SAYING, "HEY, I TESTED FOR COVID THIS DAY AND I KNOW WE HUNG OUT TWO DAYS AGO, I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW SO THAT YOU COULD GET TESTED AND SO YOU COULD WATCH FOR SYMPTOMS," I THINK THAT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AS WELL, BUT I ALSO COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE FEELINGS OF FEAR AND SHAME AND GUILT THAT FOLKS MIGHT BE HAVING IN MAKING THOSE CALLS, WHICH IS WHY IT’S IMPORTANT THAT CONTACT TRACERS LIKE ME MAKE THOSE CALLS OURS