Smith County DA’s Investigators to Aid Health Officials

TYLER — The Smith County District Attorney’s office announced Monday via a press brief, that a majority of its investigators will be dedicated to aid local health officials in contact tracing efforts for the coronavirus. “As of today, I am dedicating five of my seven investigators to assist the Emergency Operations Center in combating the COVID-19 outbreak,” Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman said. “These five investigators will aid in contact tracing to help our public health system determine who may be at risk for infection.”

Upon testing positive for the virus, the person is interviewed about recent activities and who they have come in contact with. Those people, in turn, are also contacted and asked about their recent movements. These types of investigations are called contact tracing. The faster contact tracing can occur, the better chance health officials have to curb the spread of COVID-19 by any person who may have recently been infected.