If Clark County is to implement Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s calls for boosted contact tracing, it’s going to require some help from the state or federal government.
County health officials said Wednesday they already have a plan to hire about 65 people who could ramp up monitoring and investigations of how the novel coronavirus is spreading. It’s a key move to understand the outbreak and eventually get back to normal, according to Clark County Public Health Director Alan Melnick.
“The way we’re going to control this, when we begin to move out of the current situation, one of the things we’re going to have to have in place is much more contact tracing,” Melnick told county leaders Wednesday.
The new hires would cost about $367,430 per month, health officials said. It would cost another $122,447 initially to buy needed phones, laptops and monitors.
“Doing that kind of extensive case investigation and contact tracing is really going to require a lot more staff,” Melnick said. “We’ve got a plan developed, but the issue is going to be funding … and we’re still working on that issue.”
Vigorous contact tracing is one of the cogs outlined by Inslee on Tuesday in his broad plan to reopen the state’s economy. The others are to boost testing and to allow some industries to return with more safety guidelines.
Inslee described his vision of contact tracing as a “fire brigade.” He said the state would need about 1,500 people, including members of the National Guard, to track the spread, interview presumptive cases, and help people get quarantined quickly.
Related: Sales Taxes Slump, Jobless Claims Surge In Southwest Washington
Clark County won’t be able to do that unless they get help, too. Tax revenues have withered as everyone quarantines and industries shut down. The county expects to lose between $5 million and $13 million this year.
County Councilor John Blom said he didn’t think it was an unfunded mandate, but he isn’t sure where that money will come from. “We have a very limited amount of reserves,” he said.
Clark County’s needs for contact tracing are higher than other, less populated counties in Southwest Washington. With more than 300 positive cases and 16 deaths, it is far and away the hardest-hit part of the region.
Officials in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties, which have had less than 40 total cases combined, both said they would need fewer than 10 extra staff to help with contact tracing. Some of those positions could also be staffed with volunteers.
In the meeting Wednesday, Melnick noted some funding could come from the federal government.
A spokesperson with the Washington Department of Health said in an email they do not have any cost estimates at this time.