NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – The City of North Miami is investing in contact tracing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, the city is looking for people to do the job.
“North Miami has been pretty hard hit, there are many residents that are out of work,” said North Miami City Manager Theresa Therilus.
A new program aimed at putting people back to work in the fight against the coronavirus is the first of its kind. It's a partnership between the North Miami, Florida International University and Career Source South Florida.
"Contact tracing is about trying to get ahead of the virus, and we have had some trouble doing that all across the country," said Therilus.
She told Local 10 the city is using $25,000 in federal relief funds to put 60 residents through an eight week course in contact tracing, ultimately connecting them with jobs tracking the spread of COVID-19.
“We think the contact tracing will be long-term,” Therilus said. “It’s a way in, a foot into the medical field so not only will they have this certification, it’s an opportunity to have a job while we go through the coronavirus.”
FIU’S Biscayne Bay campus is conducting the training, which will all be done online and tailored specifically to tracing the virus in local communities.
“It’s targeted at those people who might have been adversely affected by the pandemic. Lost their job,” said Michael Hearon, Assistant VP of Administration and Operations for FIU’s Biscayne Bay campus. “Also, specifically in the context of South Florida, so that includes geographic and demographic relevant data to the local community like health disparities.”
Career Source South Florida will then help place participants with local job opportunities, putting them on the front lines of a fight to track the virus and hopefully one day get one step ahead of it.
“We’re not at the end, nowhere near the end,” said Hearon. “We need to continue to work on the further, preventing the further spread of the virus.”