For the last two years, PubSEG has devoted a majority of its contact tracing and overall COVID management efforts to helping educational institutions. From K-12 schools through colleges and universities, our team has worked vigorously to keep classrooms and campuses as safe as possible.
But COVID-19 obviously does not discriminate. Schools are hardly the only place where surges can cause major disruptions.
Municipal government departments are also susceptible to COVID outbreaks. And while some employees are able to work remotely, many don’t have that luxury. A rise in COVID cases could be devastating for a local government’s day-to-day operations.
To help address this concern, PubSEG recently expanded its client base and is now working with several city and county governments in multiple regions of the United States, including California and the Midwest. Not only do we work with municipal employees, but we’re capable of contact tracing the general public, as well.
Our work with municipalities comes amidst a harrowing stage of the pandemic. While many people seem to be treating COVID as a thing of the past (at least judging by the lack of masks and social distancing in public places), the numbers tell a completely different story. As of May 17, the United States was averaging 95,813 cases a day, up 57% from two weeks earlier.
And while the highly contagious omicron variants that are causing the latest surge are not considered to be as severe as earlier strains of the virus, people are still getting seriously ill from COVID. According to a New York Times tracker, the country was averaging 22,075 hospitalizations a day on May 17, up 24% from two weeks earlier. In the Northeast and Midwest, case reports are higher now than they were during the peak of last summer’s delta surge.
The point is, COVID hasn’t gone away, and won’t be disappearing anytime soon, either.
But PubSEG can help limit the spread in your town or county, not only by offering quarantine information and guidance to positive cases, exposures, and symptomatic individuals, but by assisting with all your COVID-related concerns.
As with schools, contact tracing is a big part of what we can do for local municipalities, but it’s not the only part. PubSEG’s experienced, empathetic team and HIPAA-compliant technology can help with vaccination and booster verifications, religious exemptions, symptom monitoring, and anything else to ease the COVID burden on your administrative and health department staffs.
“COVID policies are changing all the time, especially at the county level,” says Dawn Stolte, PubSEG’s Vice President of Operations. “Our clients do a good job of training their own people, but it’s hard to keep up with all the changes. We have a ton of experience at adapting to surges and all the new variants that have come along and helping organizations deal with the ever-changing guidelines.”
PubSEG develops customized programs for each of its clients, and can quickly scale up and down as needed, depending on case numbers. We learn your existing protocols and procedures and become an extension of your team, or we build a program from scratch. Either way, you gain a strong collaborative partner, committed to understanding your specific challenges and unique environment.
Our current municipality clients decided to outsource after realizing they were exhausting their in-house staff. Even with multiple full-time employees assigned to contact tracing, the responsibilities can be overwhelming, especially during surges.
Not only are PubSEG’s supervisors and contract tracers trained in multiple areas of pandemic management, but they’re also skilled at knowing exactly how to talk to people of all ages in what can be highly sensitive situations. In our work with schools, we regularly deal with both students and employees, so we’re familiar with specific objections and how to address them in an empathetic manner.
“Occasionally, you will speak to someone who is rude, dismissive, or challenges your knowledge—it’s important to know your facts, keep your calm demeanor, and maintain confidence when facing these sorts of challenges,” says Contact Tracing Supervisor Harley Super. “Expressing empathy with a phrase like, ‘I know this is pretty frustrating news,’ or ‘I can’t imagine how tough this is, considering how you’re feeling,’ can really turn a conversation around when someone is upset. People want to be treated like people, not numbers on a list of sick folks.”
Ultimately, we want what you want: to help keep your community as safe as possible.
If you’re looking for support in your efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, or just want to learn more about PubSEG’s services, please contact Chris Engel at 856-942-1374 or chris.engel@pubseg.com. Or visit us at www.pubseg.com. We look forward to learning how we can help.