Contact tracing after a positive COVID-19 test is being moved to a local team for investigations.

Chelan-Douglas Health District Chief Medical Officer Dr. Malcom Butler says you will be asked questions only if you test positive, and it will be done by your provider.

"Then we can reach out to those people also and advise them that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. Unless you give us your permission, we're not going to tell them to whom they may have been exposed so your privacy will be protected."

The tracing will be done by Confluence Health, Columbia Valley Community Health and Cascade Medical Center.

It had previously been overseen by the state.

Dr. Butler also noted the area has plateaued in terms of incidence rate, hovering around the 160-170 range for the past few weeks.

He did specify though, that more young people seem to be getting the virus now.

"What I think most people would think, 'Gosh, kids are now starting to get more COVID. It must be because the schools have reopened.' I can tell you that that is absolutely false. That is not the reason these numbers are going up. The schools have been tracking very closely what is going on inside the school. So far we have not had any transmissions within our schools."

He says kids most often get the virus, but aren't very sick but can become a carrier.

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