Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg sketched out the plan Thursday to team up with Johns Hopkins University to develop mass coronavirus tracing in New York and, eventually, across the country.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that to stop the spread of COVID-19 infections, the state will need 6,400 to 17,000 people to trace the contacts of those who test positive.
The billionaire philanthropist joined the governor during Thursday's news briefing to explain his organization's effort funding Hopkins, his alma mater, to come up with a plan.
Cuomo has described contact tracing as a key cog in reopening parts of the state. The state wants to increase diagnostic testing, trace contacts of people who test positive and isolate those who have been in close contact with affected people.
"When you get a positive, you talk to that person and trace back who they have been in contact with. Then test those people. You then isolate those people, so you don't increase the rate of infection," Cuomo said. "That's what tracing is. The faster you trace, the better."
New York City has said it plans to hire 1,000 contact tracers.
"Bloomberg throws fortune behind virus tracing" originally appeared in Crain's New York Business.
