Updated 3:30 p.m. June 9: After first calling for volunteers, Yolo County announced after Dateline posted this story that the June 15-19 training will be restricted to county and state employees. Members of the general public interested in subsequent trainings are invited to express their interest by sending an email with their contact information to be notified of future trainings.

Yolo County is recruiting volunteers to do contact tracing as part of the county’s response to COVID-19 — reaching out to people who may have had contact with people who test positive for the disease.

Approximately 20 hours of online training is required over four and a half days, and the next session is scheduled for next week, June 15-19.

Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and have their own computers to work on. The county aims to build a bank of volunteers who would work a couple of hours a week as needed, probably from home.

The county is seeking investigators, who initiate the tracing process when people test positive for COVID-19, and tracers, who have the primary role of contacting people who may have been exposed to the virus and recommending they get tested if they were in close contact with someone who has tested positive.

The tracers follow up regularly to ensure people remain in quarantine and to assess what they might need.

Tracers communicate regularly with other members of the county’s infection-control team, to update them on the status of people who are being monitored, and to discuss strategies on how to get in touch with people who had not yet been reached.

In addition, tracers will access a statewide database to enter detailed information from their interviews.

Interested in volunteering? Send your contact information by email.

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