CLEVELAND — With cases of COVID-19 rising, the Cleveland Department of Public Health is hiring for jobs to stop the spread of the disease, and they want these people in place right away.
The city says they're looking to hire 10 to 15 people and have them working by July on contact tracing.
Public health experts say contact tracing is key to breaking chains of transmission and helping control an outbreak.
Contact tracers reach out to people recently sick with the coronavirus to figure out who they may have exposed when they were contagious, which is when you're presenting symptoms and about two days prior. Then, getting those people to quarantine for 14 days.
The city says these individuals will be temporary workers logging 30 to 40 hours a week and will work a minimum of six months. Some of the requirements include: good communications skills over the phone, experience in customer service, a background in health care is a plus, but not required, you should be empathetic, and you must understand privacy laws.
“It’s not especially invasive, although someone will have to get to know what you’ve been doing, where you’ve been and who you’ve been in contact with," said Dr. Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security about the importance of contact tracing. "I think it’s a really good way to protect yourself and your loved ones. It really is important for us to cooperate with this and that will help control the pandemic, and get us back to work much more safely, and be able to open our economy more. So, it really is an essential tool to get more economic activity going."
The city said pay is $15 an hour.
The Cleveland Department of Public Health is also hiring for wellness callers and community health workers.
The job postings say interested parties should submit a resume and cover letter detailing experience and skills to: recruiting@city.cleveland.oh.us
They ask that you include “Public Health Jobs” in the subject line. Click here to see the flyer for the contact tracing position.
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