meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Short Wave

Contact Tracing Is Key To Reopening. We're Not There Yet

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 β€’ 6K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 24 April 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The U.S. may need 100,000 people trained in the public health practice of contact tracing β€” tracking and isolating people who've been in contact with someone who tests positive for the coronavirus. NPR health policy reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin explains how it works, and why it's a key part of the fight against the pandemic.

Email the show at [email protected].

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

0:06.0

Maddie is a via here with longtime listener, first time shortwaveer, NPR reporter Salina

0:11.0

Simmons-Duffin.

0:12.0

Hey, Salina.

0:13.0

Hey, Maddie.

0:14.0

Where are we starting today?

0:16.0

We are starting in a small town in Northeast Nebraska with a woman named Katie Berger.

0:21.0

I live in Nebraska and I work at a college.

0:25.0

Katie was at her usual hair salon a few weeks back.

0:28.6

Her state did not have a shelter at home or at the time.

0:31.6

And it turns out one of the stylists there was infected with the coronavirus.

0:36.6

My stylist started making a cup of coffee for me and she went off into the back room.

0:42.6

And the stylist who was infected picked up the coffee cup and handed it to me and I drank out of it.

0:50.6

Now that she knows this, Katie in her head has been replaying every moment of her time at the salon that day.

0:57.6

And I was like, well, close I was to her and when we briefly talked to each other.

1:02.6

And I'm trying to remember every little detail because it was, I was pretty panicked for a while.

1:08.6

So obviously while she was at the salon, she didn't know that the stylist was sick.

1:12.6

Right.

1:13.6

She found out later first because to their credit, the salon texted her and gave her a heads up.

1:18.6

But then a couple of hours later, the local public health office gave her a call.

1:22.6

And they said, we're calling to inform you that you were supposed to a COVID-19 patient.

1:28.6

And I said, oh, this is, this is from this place because they had contacts in me.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright Β© Tapesearch 2025.