Epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves recently called for “a WPA for public health,” referring to the Depression-era program that employed millions to build roads, parks and other projects that endure to this day.

I think this a good way to frame the scale we need for contact tracing and the benefit it can have for employment. We need to massively invest in our public health departments right now because they will help us get through all phases of this pandemic (not just the acute crisis).