Maine Is Racking Up New Covid-19 Cases Faster Than Authorities Can Trace Them

New cases of COVID-19 are outpacing the state’s ability to contact trace, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday. The spike means that the state will no longer continue to stay in touch with people who test positive for the disease beyond their first contact with state investigators, Maine CDC director Nirav Shah said. He said the change will allow investigators to focus on people who are tied to outbreaks. “The virus is moving faster and spreading faster than the ability of states to train and deploy new public health investigators,” Shah said. He said the state has increased its contact tracing workforce by 40 percent for a total of 142 employees over the past two weeks. But positive cases have increased by 60 percent over roughly the same period. As states prepare for the potential rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, Shah said more federal funding will be needed to distribute it across the state. The funding concern is shared by multiple public health directors across the U.S.