Health officials to focus on who coronavirus patients have been in contact with in effort to slow pandemic

President Trump believes the country needs to brace this week for the expected rise in deaths from the outbreak.

Some medical and government leaders are also focusing on how to track those infected in the long term.

There are more than 337,000 COVID-19 cases in the United States. While most of those people will recover, leaders are learning what can be done to check on those they’ve had contact with.

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From hospital to hospital, some who get the coronavirus remain in intensive care, but many more are released and go into self-quarantine.

What happens after they’re sick is becoming the next big priority for officials.

The governor of Massachusetts is calling on the help from a nonprofit to trace what happens to people who get sick.

The group, Partners in Health, is bringing on 1,000 people to identify every person who’s gotten sick and identify who they’ve had contact with.

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The group’s CEO said it will be a process that takes time.

“We’ll just say, if you’ve been in contact with somebody who’s tested positive for COVID-19 then we’ll run through to see if they have symptoms,” said Sheila Davis.

While many communities are trying to manage the pandemic day to day, Davis expects that other states will do the same in an effort to get ahead of the outbreak in the long term.

Davis said they’ve received 5,000 applications over the weekend from people who want to help.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Coronavirus cases in Florida

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