| States are stirring back to life, tentatively opening businesses and public spaces that slammed closed in March to slow the virus's spread. Now their health agencies are in a race against the pathogen. To avoid having to shut down again, they're hiring hundreds of virus sleuths to track down individual cases, alert the people they may have exposed, and try to keep them from spreading it more widely. It's a high-stakes logistical challenge that gets harder to sustain as the number of cases rise. "It feels like we've gotten better than we were but not as good as where we need to be," said Umair Shah, who runs public health for Harris County, Texas. Home to 4.7 million people, it encompasses Houston and dozens of other municipalities. Shah's office recruited and trained 300 contact tracers this month. Part detective, part social worker, contact tracers spend their days on the phone, following the trails of Covid patients and assisting those who may need help to safely quarantine. Hired from the communities where they work, they need to persuade strangers on the other end of the line to cooperate for the greater good. Nationwide, health experts say America needs at least 100,000 people to do this work. Some warn that the country is behind, with public-health departments diminished by inadequate funding playing catch up. Failure could mean more illness and death. New waves of cases that threaten hospital capacity could trigger more shutdowns. But people like Shah's new contact-tracing force, working quietly out of view, day after day, call by call, could allow the country to reopen safely. — John Tozzi | 
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