How contact tracing slows the spread - and why getting Montana back to work requires more of it

Editor's Note: This article was originally published by Montana Free Press. For more information please visit www.montanafreepress.org

BOZEMAN - Adam woke up with a fever on the morning of Tuesday Feb. 25. His body ached and his sheets were soaked with sweat. He called in sick to work, and his girlfriend drove him to the viral triage clinic at Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital.

There, nurses asked about his symptoms and, because he didn't meet testing criteria for COVID-19, they swabbed him for the flu. A doctor called when his flu test came back negative later that day.

"They told me, 'Assume...