HOUSTON — As Texas reopens Harris County leaders have said that contact tracers will be key to doing that safely.
But there have been claims circulating on social media about how these people in charge of tracing the spread of coronavirus in our community operate. Our Verify team is getting answers.
The Claim
Leslie sent us a message from Instagram asking us to verify. It reads in part:
“If your Facebook or Google apps track you at a store they say has ‘covid’ whether is was true or not, they can interrogate you, house arrest you or even lock you up. They have the ability to locate you now because big tech opened up the data to them. This will be a politically appointed police force for the first time in American history.”
Our Sources
Our sources on this are Elya Franciscus, epidemiologist with Harris County Public Health, and Hevert Rios-Benitez, project support with Harris County Public Health. Both are helping coordinate the contract tracing program.
What We Found
Here is what they told our verify researcher.
First up, Harris County is not using Bluetooth technology to track you. If you do test positive for COVID-19, you can voluntarily offer up your location data but they are not tracking everyone through their smartphones or getting your data from tech companies.
Next, if you do test positive and a contact tracer reaches out to you, they do not put you under house arrest. They may ask you to self-isolated in your home to prevent the spread of the disease but they have not forced anyone in Harris County to do this.
Also they are not a police force. They are public health workers trying to track the spread of a pandemic, according to our sources. If you refuse to work with them, that’s it, they leave you alone.
Bottom Line
So we can verify, this Instagram post is false. But our sources did want you to know to be on the look out for scams, contact tracers don’t just show up at your door. They will reach out to you by phone or email and will not ask for information like your social security number, legal status or financial details.
MORE VERIFY
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