With Allen County experiencing its highest surge seen in Coronavirus cases, Allen County Public Health is shifting most of their focus to contact-tracing.

For the next week, staff at ACPH have been taken off their day-to-day tasks to work on contact-tracing. Allen County has had more than 600 cases in the last five days. That's more cases then the county saw all of August. The health commissioner says at that rate, they won't be able to keep up with contact-tracing. Most walk-in services will be closed except for scheduled immunizations, reproductive health and WIC clinic appointments.

A public health alert has been issued by Allen County Public Health after COVID-19 numbers continue to rise. Allen County's per capita COVID-19 cases is currently at 248.17, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 

Allen County Public Health has been working closely with businesses to put prevention plans in place, and to help if an employee contracts COVID-19. If that happens, contact tracing will be done. To be a contact, an individual must have been within 6 feet of the sick person for more than 15 minutes.

Getting in touch with people that are in close contact of a person with COVID-19 is one of the tasks that Allen County Public Health has taken on in this pandemic. A close contact would be someone that was within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or longer, and would have to quarantine for 14 days.