Cole County needs contact tracers

KMIZ– The Cole County Commission approved the hiring of up to 12 new contact tracers that will specifically work to watch the spread of COVID-19 in schools in Cole County.

This comes after school leaders across the county, both public and private, asked the commission to consider hiring more with CARES Act Funding.

Our news partner, ABC – 17, reports the commission met with school leaders from Jefferson City Schools, Helias Catholic High School and Blair Oaks on Tuesday after sending requests to potentially hire contact tracers.

According to the Cole County Health Department’s weekly dashboard updated on Thursday, 18 percent of the 1,210 cases were under 20 years old. There have now been 1,318 reported cases in Cole County as of Tuesday, with 111 active.