City: Please answer calls from this number for COVID-19 contact tracing

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We know -- you don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize.

Nobody does these days.

And with good reason thanks to all the robocallers and scammers out there.

But the city of Jacksonville is asking you to buck your normal instinct and answer a call from a number you likely don’t have saved in your phone: 833-917-2880.

Or better yet, save the number in your phone and label it Contact Tracing.

The person calling from that number is likely calling to let you know you might have been exposed to COVID-19.

It’s part of Florida’s comprehensive contact tracing effort.

The city posted a graphic on Twitter, explaining the contact tracing process:

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19?

The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more safely.

But the process isn’t easy.

After a person tests positive for the virus, a contact tracer would get in touch with the person and attempt to determine where they have been and who they were around.

The focus is on close contacts, or people who were within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 10 minutes or so. Those people would then be asked to self-isolate, monitor themselves for symptoms and get tested if needed.

For those showing symptoms, the tracing process would start all over again.

Contact tracing is done in a variety of ways around the world. But a common issue is that determining who a person has been around can get harder as gatherings with friends and family resume, and as bars, restaurants and other places start reopening.

Health officials could also become overwhelmed with cases. In the U.S. for example, local health departments may rely on automated texts to alert people who may have been exposed to an infected person. Health officials prefer to call people if possible because it can help build trust. But some people never return calls or texts.

There’s also pressure to act quickly. Ideally, most of a person’s contacts would be alerted within a day.