As US cases soar, 'coronavirus detectives' face new strain

Curbing a pandemic requires an army of public health workers who can find, contact, and support those thought to have been exposed to the disease. Some states aren’t prepared.

When a novel coronavirus first began to spread in February, U.S. public health officials reached for a tried-and-tested method: contact tracing. By isolating potential spreaders and finding out who else they may have infected, “coronavirus detectives” try to tamp down outbreaks.

In hard-hit cities like New York and Boston, contact tracers were quickly overwhelmed by the growth in cases, and...