Health director lays out school testing and tracing plan as commissioners press for staff

Paul Myers, director of the Alachua County Health Department, told the commission the department sees laboratory turnaround times typically between 24 and 48 hours and that, with those results, contact tracers can begin outreach quickly. "We're getting those back right now about 36 hours," Myers said, adding LabCorp and the state lab have improved capacity.

Myers described a two‑tiered approach for schools. For kindergarten through grade 5, a single confirmed case would be isolated and the classroom tested (with parental consent). Students who remain asymptomatic may stay in class with testing again around day 9 or 10, he said. "We're going to test that child again on day 9 or 10, so that they can continue with their education in that classroom," Myers said.

Middle and high school cases will rely more on contact tracing because older students move between classes. Myers said the county has asked schools to use assigned seating to support faster tracing. He acknowledged the department has had difficulty hiring all planned contact tracers and has resorted to redeploying health department staff while recruiting licensed practical nurses.

Commissioners asked whether the county can offer signing bonuses or other incentives to recruit LPNs and contact tracers quickly. Chair (the meeting chair) suggested CARES Act funds could be used for signing bonuses; Myers said the department is increasing pay and recruiting full‑fledged nurses rather than a larger pool of lower‑paid tracers.

Myers committed to providing the board biweekly metrics on lab turnaround times and contact tracing effectiveness, including the five‑day average case curve and testing capacity. "If these metrics are acceptable to you, I'll commit to providing them to the manager every two weeks," he said.

Next steps: the health director will continue recruiting staff, provide the promised biweekly reports and bring any specific requests for board funding back to the county manager for consideration.