Help wanted as New Mexico looks to hire more contact tracers

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has put up the help wanted sign in search of people to fill dozens of contact tracing positions as health officials monitor the spread of coronavirus around the state.

The Health Department and the State Personnel Office began accepting applications Friday to fill 200 to 250 positions. The hiring will be done virtually, and the work will be done remotely.

Qualifications include experience in a health-related field or work with communities on social service matters, social work or case management.

State officials say the goal is to ensure that every individual who tests positive for COVID-19 is identified, isolated and monitored and that all known contacts are also tested and isolated if necessary.

Those hired will work with the dozens of Health Department personnel already engaged in contact tracing, many of whom have been temporarily reassigned from other roles in the department.

The new hires will be assigned to one of five regional contact-tracing teams statewide, with larger teams deployed to the regions with higher numbers of cases.

Additional positions are likely to become available over the summer as New Mexico continues to increase its tracking capacity.

The state has more than 6,600 cases, with more than half of those originating in McKinley and San Juan counties in the northwest corner of the state.

In other developments:

— Aside from the standard Memorial Day weekend recognition of military personnel who have lost their lives, flags around the state have been ordered to fly at half-staff throughout the holiday weekend and on Monday under state and federal orders meant to honor and mourn those who have died of COVID-19.

— Officials in southern New Mexico are urging people to stay home for the holiday weekend. Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said while it’s tempting for residents of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County to cross the state line to visit restaurants, stores and other attractions, he said the commercial activity underway in neighboring El Paso, Texas, doesn’t mean the coronavirus threat has gone away.