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Contact tracing courses available at no cost at local university

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Posted at 5:12 PM, Jul 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-15 18:21:18-04

TAMPA, Fla. — Thousands of jobs are now available for contact tracers and South University’s Tampa campus is ready to train their students.

“We just wanted to use our expertise and our background in healthcare and public health to do what we can to fill that need,” said South University Tampa President Dr. James McCoy.

That’s why the campus says they're offering the online contact tracing course at no charge.

Contact tracing is the investigative strategy used for finding those exposed to a contagious disease like COVID-19. They then treat or isolate those people to contain the spread of the virus.

“The more we know, the better we are able to combat this virus,” said McCoy.

Those who finish the course get a certificate they can bring to potential employers. There are job listings offering up to $25 an hour for contact tracing positions.

South University isn’t the only one offering free training. Purdue Global, Johns Hopkins and the University of Houston are among other schools with programs.

“Clearly this is a virus that we as a nation have got to combat, and this is just our little way in helping in that role,” said McCoy.

About a hundred people have already signed up for the course at South University, which takes about 10 hours to complete.

To register from the course at South University, click here.