Tag: contact tracing

110,000 Pima County Residents’ Personal Data Exposed After Hackers Breach COVID-19 Contact Tracing Firm

Tom Pappert

Russian hackers accessed the personal information of 110,000 residents of Pima County, Arizona whose data was held by Maximus Health Services, who was contracted by the county for contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government contracting giant acknowledged between 8 and 11 million people had their information breached by hackers in a July filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and this week confirmed about 110,000 Pima County residents were affected, according to KJZZ, which added that the county “contracted with Maximus” for contact tracing during the pandemic.

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Chinese Officials Will Soon Strap Electronic Monitoring Bracelets to COVID Patients

Admin

Hong Kong’s Ministry of Health announced it will soon require COVID-19 patients to wear electronic monitors as the pandemic continues to spread throughout China, Chinese media reported Monday.

Beginning on Friday, Hong Kong will require COVID-19 patients in quarantine to wear electronic bracelets in order to prohibit them from visiting “high-risk” places, Lo Chung-mau, Hong Kong’s health minister told reporters, according to China’s i-Cable News. Lo is a cabinet member within the administration of Hong Kong’s new chief executive, John Lee, who allegedly won 99% of votes after enforcing Beijing’s National Security Law.

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Michigan AG Nessel Finds ‘No Evidence of Criminal Conduct’ in Contact Tracing Contract Controversy

The Center Square

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday released a 29-page report saying her office found “no evidence of criminal conduct” after an investigation into April allegations the state health department unlawfully contracted with a COVID-19 contact-tracing vendor associated with Democrat consultant Michael Kolehouse.

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Virginia Department of Health Adopts CDC Quarantine Guidelines

Jacob Taylor

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced Tuesday that it is adopting newly revised COVID-19 quarantine guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that were released earlier this month.

VDH and the CDC recommends people who test positive for coronavirus or may have been exposed to quarantine for a full 14 days, but the new guidelines have two additional alternatives for a shorter length of isolation.

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State Backs Down on Requirement Restaurants Deny Entry to Customers Who Don’t Give Contact Tracing Info

The Center Square

The state of Michigan eased a requirement that restaurants deny entry to customers who don’t give their contact information for contact tracing after a civil liberties group stepped in.

The new Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) FAQ page only recommends facilities deny entry to customers who refuse to provide contact information to the restaurant.

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Ohio FEMA Camps – Still More Questions Than Answers

Jack Windsor

The Ohio Star reported on September 3 that Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Interim Director Lance Himes released an order on August 31 – an order creating Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shelters and legalizing their use for people who “are unable to safely self-quarantine in their place of residence and to isolate those diagnosed with or showing symptoms of COVID-19.”

The non-congregate FEMA sheltering will be utilized throughout the state for people, according to the examples given by Himes, who “test positive for COVID-19 who do not require hospitalization but need isolation (including those exiting from hospitals); those who have been exposed to COVID-19 who do not require hospitalization; and asymptomatic high-risk individuals needing social distancing as a precautionary measure.”

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Michigan Health Director Says Contact Tracing Contract a Mistake, but Not Politically Motivated

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Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon on Thursday said approving a Democrat-connected firm for contact tracing was a mistake, but not politically motivated.

Gordon said MDHHS first had local health departments attempt contact tracing but those agencies didn’t have enough resources, requiring MDHHS to seek a vendor.

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New Email Shows Gretchen Whitmer’s Office Gave the ‘Green Light’ to Award Coronavirus Contract to Democratic Firms

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Gretchen Whitmer

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer distanced herself from a much-criticized decision to award a no-bid contract to two Democratic firms to handle the state’s coronavirus contact tracing.

But a senior adviser in the Michigan Department of the Health and Human Services said that the executive office of the governor [EOG] gave the contract a “green light,” a newly public email shows.

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Let’s Trace the Democratic Elites and the Media First, Says Crom Carmichael

Julie Carr

On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio.

At the end of the second hour, Carmichael discussed the concept of contact tracing and suggested that perhaps the Democratic elite and the media should be the first to explore that option. He reflected on the House Democrats that recently proposed that the country could employ millions of people as contract tracers and speculated that the ultimate goal would be to have them unionized.

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The Tennessee Star Report: Crom Carmichael Gives Two Reasons Why Contact Tracing Just Won’t Work

Julie Carr

Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast live from Music Row on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined in the studio by the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.

At the top of the third hour, Carmichael outlined his thoughts on contact tracing and cited reasons why it wouldn’t work. He added that there were two reasons why the government would want to do it which included a stupid government that wants to look like its doing something and a more sinister reason which would resemble the tracking that China is doing of its own citizens.

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Once Tennessee Economy Reopens, Will State Quarantine Patients, Trace Contacts?

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With Tennessee possibly moving toward an economic reopening in May, one looming question is what, if anything, will the state do with people who continue to test positive for COVID-19, especially ensuring that they are staying quarantined.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday he will extend the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30, but he also said government and private-sector officials are working to reopen the state’s economy in May, The Tennessee Star reported.

Lee said this at a televised press conference, adding “we are not out of the woods yet, and it could be some time [before we are].”

“Until a vaccine or a therapy is widely available to Tennesseans, this virus will be a present reality to us to manage and consider whenever we are making decisions,” Lee said.

Lee said that last month he started working with leaders of industry to understand how this pandemic would impact the state’s businesses.

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Ohio Health Director Amy Acton Is Preparing Volunteers to Help with Contact Tracing

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton announced during Monday’s press conference that the state is training volunteers to help with “contact tracing,” which is a process that helps identify people who may have contacted an infected person.

The ODH has been working with medical and professional schools to help train these volunteers in an attempt to better allocate state resources for the coronavirus.

“Let’s just say we have the testing. You want to know someone is infectious the second they are. So, the quicker you can identify them is the very first step,” Acton said.

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Tennessee Dem House Chair Wants ‘Statewide System to Trace the Steps’ of COVID-19 Patients

Anthony Gockowski

Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chair Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) called on Gov. Bill Lee to create a “statewide system to trace the steps of those testing positive for COVID-19.”

“I call on Gov. Lee to use state resources to create a statewide contact tracing system including testing where necessary,” Stewart said in an interview with WKRN.

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