{"id":761,"date":"2020-10-19T12:44:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T16:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/?p=761"},"modified":"2020-10-26T14:53:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T18:53:03","slug":"slowing-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/slowing-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Slowing the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rosa Cantu was among the first at UTC to receive a master\u2019s degree in public health and soon found herself back at the University leading the overall contact tracing effort.<\/em> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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In May,\u00a0Rosa Cantu\u00a0became a member of\u00a0the inaugural\u00a0class of graduates of the master\u2019s degree program in public health. She and her\u00a0classmates\u00a0had no idea just how crucial their discipline would be when they began the public health program two years ago.\u00a0There\u2019s no way they could have known that the University\u00a0of Tennessee at Chattanooga\u2014the world\u2014would be in the throes of responding to a pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cantu says she was initially drawn to public health because she was interested in diabetes and obesity prevention and wasn\u2019t really prepared to \u201cstart over\u201d when she graduated. She was comfortable with her job and had no plans to look for a public health-specific job right away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the economy fell, her position at a local health clinic was eliminated, giving her a fateful push in a new direction. Last summer, she began work in contact tracing on COVID-19 for the Hamilton County Health Department. “Thankfully, with the background that I had and the new degree, the Hamilton County Health Department was a perfect opportunity,” Cantu says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As UTC prepared to bring students back to campus for  fall semester\u2014stocking up on hand sanitizer, disinfectants, face masks and contact tracers\u2014there was an immediate need for someone who could manage everyone who would be working to keep COVID contained at UTC. Cantu was hired for the job. In her new role as COVID-19 contact tracer coordinator, Cantu currently leads more than 70 tracers at UTC. “It’s a really huge undertaking.” she says.\u202f”I can’t think\u202fabout\u202fit too much or it would scare me.” <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Her optimistic demeanor doesn\u2019t show a hint of fear, though. Around her base of operations in the University library, <\/strong>there is bustling energy. Voices rise and fall. Keyboards clack. A door opens and shuts. Phones ring. Cantu is unfazed. She speaks in a calm, collected voice as she Zooms from her corner desk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although many work remotely, some contact tracers are camped out in the same Library space with Cantu\u2014properly social distanced, of course. The team ranges from undergraduate and graduate students studying psychology, biology, social work, public health and nursing to UTC employees either temporarily reassigned to a new role, hired for the job or volunteering hours of their day. They monitor University students and employees who have tested positive for or have come in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Tracers check in with students and employees through phone calls and text to maintain a \u201cfriendlier vibe,\u201d Cantu says. That demeanor is especially important to keep with students because \u201cWe want to reassure them that everything is going to be ok,\u201d she adds.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the team\u2019s work also involves case investigation. Tracers interview employees or students who test positive to map out any person they might have come in close contact with during their infectious periods. They then begin reaching out to those contacts to initiate quarantine, if needed, and check in daily to monitor for symptoms. COVID \u201cis a real threat to everyone,\u201d Cantu explains. \u201cThe thing that unifies all of us on the contact tracing team is that we understand that we have to keep our campus safe and healthy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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