“Pennsylvanians are receiving letters from the Department of Health to quarantine for 14 days, for those who may have been in contact with a person with a COVID-19 positive test result.
The letters fail to provide any guidance on how to vote in-person.”
When asked how the Pennsylvania Covid-19 contact tracing program operates? The whistleblower responded:
“It is not being done in good faith.”
Specifically, residents in Dauphin, Lebanon and York counties have been receiving letters to this effect due to local government mandates requiring a written notification from the Department of Health.
Residents in other counties contacted TalkWilliamsport.com over the past week saying they received phone calls from the DOH as well as contact tracers to remain quarantined for at least 14 days.
TalkWilliamsport.com has obtained copies of the scripts Contact Tracers are currently using and this question appears in the script. Note that the script is version #11 and is in current use.
QUARANTINE
“Because you <or minor> came in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you <or minor> will need to quarantine for 14 days since your <his/her/their> last encounter with that person. Your <his/her/their> quarantine will be from now until <last date of the monitoring period>.”
ACCEPT
“This official quarantine order on behalf of the Pennsylvania Department of Health means you <or minor> need to remain in your home away from others, except if you <he/she/they> need to seek medical care. There may be
exceptions to this order if you are designated as a health care worker or a critical infrastructure worker.
You <or minor> may go in your yard only if you <he/she/they> can stay at least 6 feet from your neighbors.
If you live in an apartment, you <minor> may not leave, because you cannot be in the common areas of the building
where others might be, such as the elevator or hallway.
People who have been in contact with you <or minor> do not have to quarantine.
However, if you live in a household with other people try to maintain a distance greater than 6 feet and wear a mask whenever possible.”
REFUSE
“The Department of Health is required to send you an official letter. We will send the letter to you by email. Can you verify this is your email?”
If email cannot be obtained: “We can send the letter by mail. Can you verify your address?”
If contact says they have tested negative for COVID-19 and therefore don’t think they need to quarantine:
“Even if you <or minor> tested negative, it is still possible for you <him/her/them> to present positive results within a 14-day period. Given that you have <or minor has> been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, it is very important that you <or minor> quarantine and keep track of how you’re <they’re> feeling in case you <or minor> develop(s) any symptoms.”
End call and make notes.
Inform district resource account/checkbox to send letter.”
TalkWilliamsport.com has also obtained a letter from a resident in one of the previously noted counties from July outlining what could occur in a quarantine non-compliance situation.
On August 3, 2020, it was announced the Pennsylvania Department of Health awarded a $23 million contract to Insight Global to provide 1,000 paid contact tracing staff to help fight Covid-19.
According to an article published by StaffingIndustry.com:
“Across Pennsylvania, we have dedicated public health professionals who truly are the backbone of contact tracing, and this expansion of the contact tracing team will only support, strengthen and expand their efforts,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said.
Insight Global will work with the department to recruit, interview, hire, train and support contact tracers, contact tracer supervisors and care resource manager positions. All positions will be remote.
Hourly rates for these jobs will range from $18 to $22 for contact tracers and from $22 to $24 for both contact tracing supervisors and care resource managers. Positions will be both full-time and part-time.
The statement of work that was negotiated is for up to 1,000 staff for a five-month contract, although the purchase order is stretched over a 12-month period. This will allow Pennsylvania to add, maintain and subtract the amount of staff needed to support contact-tracing efforts.
Recruitment will be focused on workers who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Pennsylvania already had 654 contract tracers across the state prior to the hiring of the 1,000 under the Insight Global deal.
From the DOH website:
The Department of Health, in partnership with Insight Global, is recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, and supporting contact tracers, contact tracer supervisors, and care resource manager positions. Both full- and part-time positions will be offered as needed and will provide ongoing skill development and training for those interested in public health careers. Please find any open contact tracing staff positions below.
Insight Global based in Atlanta, Georgia has three Pennsylvania locations, King of Prussia, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
From the Insight Global website:
Insight Global provides Talent Management Services across all segments of the Healthcare Industry, developing strong client and consultant relationships since our inception.
Insight Global actively supports over 400 programs within the public sector, including past performance across all IT, finance, and engineering disciplines with a specific focus on:
- Cyber security network engineering
- Administration applications
- Software development and engineering
- Helpdesk/desktop
- AV/VTC systems engineering
- PMO support
- Finance and accounting
- Mechanical/electrical/maritime engineering
- Intelligence operations
- EMR/EHR implementation, optimization, and support Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Electronic Health Record (EHR)
PROBLEMS WITH THE COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING PROGRAM FROM THE START
The COVID-19 pandemic really came into the forefront in Pennsylvania in March 2020 with massive lockdowns of businesses and schools implemented and codified by Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine.
According to the whistleblower, the impetus for the program was to “reopen the state safely and provide the data to do so, calls were to be made to those in contact with COVID-19 positive cases.”
As of today, that is simply not the case.
“One or two calls are being made on a daily basis and no real work is being done even though the money has already been spent”, the whistleblower added.
“Multiple tracers are in contact with the same case.”
SOFTWARE CHANGES CONSTANTLY
With all of the infrastructure (noted above) Insight Global brings to the table with a $23 million dollar contract in hand; have any of the existing models using “EMR/EHR implementation, optimization, and support Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Electronic Health Record (EHR)” been deployed in Pennsylvania?
According to the whistleblower, absolutely not.
Instead the PA Department of Health and Insight Global began using a new platform and recently transitioned to Salesforce.
Salesforce is software that is used as a customer relationship management service.
The whistleblower stated, “the software seems to change weekly due to the issues integrating information from the SARALERT database where people are texting or e-mailing to report symptoms.”
“As software changes, information gets deleted or lost in the transition each time”, according to the whistleblower.
QUESTIONS FROM CONTRACT TRACERS CAUSE CONCERNS
The Pennsylvania Department of Health state in its website, “A Contact Tracer Will Never Ask You For: Your personal information”, does sexual orientation qualify as a personal question?
Does the sexual orientation of a five year old child qualify as a personal question or even relevant to COVID-19?
From the TalkWilliamsport.com obtained copies of the scripts Contact Tracers are currently using and this question appears in the script. Note that the script is version #11 and is in current use.
“In order to be able to follow-up with you and connect you to resources if needed, we have a few questions for you. Some questions might be personal, but it is important information so that we can address health disparities and connect all individuals to the resources they may need.”
According to the whistleblower, “the focus of questions has recently changed to those about sexuality and orientation. The reason being, the DOH wants to see if the LGBTQ community is being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.”
From the DOH script obtained by TalkWilliamsport.com:
“SEXUAL ORIENTATION & GENDER IDENTITY
“I am going to ask you some questions related to your gender identity and sexual orientation.
This information is important to collect as it helps divert resources to vulnerable communities.”
“What is your <or minor’s> gender?
“What is your <or minor’s> sexual orientation?”
“Do you <or minor> identify as transgender?”
Allow the contact to answer questions without reading each option.”
“If contact asks for clarification on why the department is collecting this information or if LGBT people are wary of discrimination or harassment explain that: Collecting this data confirms that there are LGBT people who need healthcare support in Pennsylvania. LGBT activists have advocated for this data collection, because it helps ensure the health and wellbeing of LGBT people.”
If LBGTQ questions are being posed by Contact Tracers, should those of ethnicity or religious affiliation be asked as well?
Why did the Pennsylvania Department of Health and its contractor Insight Global wait until October 2020 to being asking sexual orientation questions when Governor Wolf announced on May 13, 2020 it would be included in COVID-19 data collection?
Whatever happened to the Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps announced on May 6, 2020 to Support Fall COVID-19 Recovery Efforts?
EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower sheds light on possible DOH voter suppression effort in Pennsylvania – PART II is forthcoming.
