WVU in the News: WVU training contact tracers for free with online class
Most agree a reliable contact tracing system is essential in preventing another outbreak among the population. West Virginia University is helping in the fight against the virus by training contact tracers for free and quickly.
The school is teaching an online class, Contact Tracing and Pandemic Response, hoping to establish tracers to help prevent the spread of the virus.
The state Department of Health and Human Resources and the National Guard are also helping teach the class.
WVU School of Public Health professor Dr. Chris Martin is the course instructor and said with no vaccine, contact tracers are the number one defense against the spread.
"The history of medicine is filled with us conquering some savage infectious diseases in the past," Martin said. "We use these tried and true measures of contact tracing and isolating individuals. They work, and they've worked in the past. I believe we can do it again."