Here is Why the City of San Angelo is No Longer Reporting COVID-19 Transmission Types

SAN ANGELO, TX – The City of San Angelo released a statement on Wednesday describing why they have stopped tracing COVID-19 transmissions.

As previously reported, on June 23, the city is going to stop listing the types of transmission due to increased difficulty in accurately identifying the original method of transmission. All cases can be classified as “community spread” at this point. Here is the original story: COSA: At This Point It's All Community Spread

Now the city has released a statement on why the city has stopped tracking. According to the City of San Angelo:

"All new cases are interviewed and asked a series of questions, such as have they traveled, participated in events, people they have been in contact with, the full gamut. Each new case investigation takes about one to 1.5 hours to complete.

"The reason behind not listing the type of transmission is that the lines are getting very blurred. For example, during an interview, a new case may say they went to a particular city for a couple of days, came back home, had to run errands, went to the grocery store and so forth, then attended a gathering. Then someone from that gathering tests positive for COVID a few days later. This is happening more and more.

"We cannot say definitively where the transmission happened at this point. Where or whom did this person really come in contact with? Did they acquire it from their travels? At the stores running errands? At the gathering? Did they acquire the virus from the person that tested positive at the gathering, or did they pass it on to that other person? 

At this point, it is safe to say that the virus is out in our community, in communities throughout our state and communities throughout our nation."