hope this will lead to propublic
health policies and more
funding.”
One area that has changed
during the pandemic is more
collaboration between the
health care community and
public health professionals.
“In almost every other nation,
there is not a discriminator
between primary healthcare
services and governmental
public health,” Voccio said.
“We’re really the one nation in
the world that has such a clear
division between the two.”
But during the coronavirus
crisis, that division has
evaporated to a large degree.
“In my entire career as a
private healthcare practitioner,”
Voccio says, “I’ve never
seen the private healthcare
community and the public
health community work
together as closely as they have
in this pandemic. I hope this
continues.”
Two other essential public
health areas that have
strengthened during the
pandemic: technology use and
the speed of information. Using
technology for contact tracing is
not a novel concept, but it was
not universally embraced and
used before, he said.
Typically, contact tracing for
diseases such as tuberculosis
and sexually transmitted
infections has always been
done on foot, with follow-up by
phone. But using technology
for effective COVID-19 contact
tracing is helpful, Voccio said,
“because the disease is so
widespread and so contagious,
on-foot contact tracing could
put workers at risk.”
Perfecting a surveillance
system using secure apps
will benefit contact tracing for
other communicable diseases,
such as TB and STIs, as well as
future virus outbreaks, Voccio
said.
State and local health
departments have also
developed new ways to release
information quickly during the
pandemic. Again, releasing
critical data — such as the
number of COVID-19 infections
and deaths per city, county, or
state — rapidly and broadly to
all communities has long been
discussed in public health.
But the pandemic elevated the
need.
“The experience with COVID
has shown us that with the
right technology, you can get
accurate statistics out every day
if you need to,” he said.
However, public health remains
chronically underfunded, with
spending declining over the
past 20 years. The budget for
the Georgia Department of
Public Health was cut once
again this year even as it
was struggling to combat the
pandemic while also trying to
provide essential public health
services.
However, the Georgia House
just passed its Amended Fiscal
Year 2021 budget, which
includes funding to replace and
modernize the public health
surveillance system, most
notably the Georgia Registry of
Immunization Transactions and
Services (GRITS) which tracks
vaccinations.
The public health director hopes
this is just the beginning for
improved public health funding.
Department of Public Health nurses and contracted emergency medical technicians
take a nasal swab from a driver to test for COVID-19 at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds.
Theresa Harris is tested at a pop-up COVID-19 testing site at John Graham
Homes in East Rome in July. The tests were a partnership with Department of
Public Health and the Northwest Georgia Housing Authority.
Floyd County Department of Public Health employee Precious Adams draws some of
the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe for injection in a patient at the health
department office on East Twelfth Street on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.