Virus hunters rely on faxes, paper records as more states reopen

Source: Politico | May 10, 2020 | Darius Tahir

It’s the result of years of missed opportunities and a technology blitz that modernized big parts of American medicine but left public health agencies behind.

A runaway global pandemic is killing tens of thousands of Americans, requiring one of the most cutting edge, data-driven national health responses in American history to stop the virus spread.

So what are many public health officials using to share information? Fax machines and paper records.

The nation’s public health tech system, from the CDC down to local agencies, are relying on technology from the turn of the 21st century that’s slowing efforts to track infected people, gauge how fast the virus is spreading and coordinate resources. It’s the result of years of missed opportunities and a technology blitz that modernized big parts of American medicine but left public health agencies behind.

At least 35 states are lifting stay-at-home orders or other restrictions, even though the CDC says the U.S. is still in the “acceleration” phase of the pandemic and many regions are seeing caseloads rise. That requires enhanced real-time surveillance of how the disease is spreading before it gets out of control in a state or community.

Congress approved more than $500 million for health data in a relief package last month but for now disease trackers say they’re drowning in paper reports and using outdated spreadsheets for critical tasks like contact tracing, or determining how many people were exposed to an infected individual.

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