© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Crosscurrents

UCSF Epidemiologist Says Contact Tracing May Become Mandatory

Steven Senne
/
AP Photo
A smartphone belonging to Drew Grande, 40, of Cranston, R.I., shows notes he made for contact tracing Wednesday, April 15, 2020.

Recently, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled the six criteria that must be met before we can all return to life as we knew it before shelter-in-place. That includes things like closely monitoring communities for the coronavirus, tracking down cases and isolating people who have it, and building capacity in local hospitals to handle sudden surges.

If infection rates start to climb again, health authorities need to determine which data should be used to use to determine when to step up social distancing measures. In this interview, Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UCSF and director of their Prevention and Public Health Group, explains.

Click the play button above to listen to the interview.

Hana Baba is host of Crosscurrents, KALW's weeknight newsmagazine that broadcasts on KALW Public Radio in the San Francisco Bay Area.