Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.

The health director for Ridgefield, Connecticut, says there is no way that he and his staff of two can identify and isolate all the people who have interacted with an infected patient, not at the rate cases are multiplying across the town. “Tracing exposures of exposures of exposures. It’s just impossible,” Briggs said. “The cases are to the point where we can’t possibly trace everybody back now.”  Known as contact tracing, this vital but labor-intensive process is becoming increasingly difficult for stretched health departments in towns and cities across the United States, which has more than 160,000 cases, more than any country in the world. A massive testing campaign, coupled with intensive contact tracing, is credited with helping South Korea slow the spread of coronavirus, whereas the United States has been criticized for a slow response. Epidemiologists say such investigations can mean the difference between nipping an outbreak early and effectively losing control, as has happened in hot spots where contact tracing has given way to lockdowns as the primary tool to prevent spread. Some states outside of the major population centers have taken that advice to heart, as the virus continues its march across the United States. Health officials in those areas acknowledge, however, that it is a race against the clock and that they, too, will be unable to carry out such widespread tracing if the case numbers climb beyond a certain point. Wyoming, for one, has five staff in its state’s infectious diseases unit working to identify all contacts with a person who has tested positive, and then asking or ordering them to self-quarantine, and monitoring their health. “Our numbers are small enough,” said Kim Deti, a spokeswoman for Wyoming’s health department, which has reported 109 cases so far and no deaths. “We’ll maintain it as long as we can.”  West Virginia is tapping its national guard to assist in a similar effort at expansive contact tracing, and coupling that with a stay-at-home order and other distancing steps. On Sunday, the state reported 145 cases and its first coronavirus death. “It’s incredibly important that at the same time as you are doing that rapid contact investigation and tracing and outbreak management, that we do the preventive measures in partnership with that everywhere,” state health officer Cathy Slemp said at a news conference last week. Alabama, which has confirmed nearly 1,000 cases, is attempting to investigate contacts for all of them, a spokeswoman for its health department said, noting that contact tracing has been an “effective tool in reducing the spread” for tuberculosis and other communicable diseases in the state. New York City, which accounts for a quarter of all cases nationwide, is an example of how the lack of testing in January and February handicapped so-called “disease detectives” from identifying initial infections and containing the spread. The city is now limiting its detectives to contact tracing for outbreaks involving health care workers and clusters in assisted living facilities and nursing homes, its health commissioner, Oxiris Barbot, said during a news conference earlier this month. Louisiana, an emerging hot spot with 5,237 cases and 239 deaths, has similarly narrowed its contact tracing in the New Orleans area, the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, to focus on vulnerable populations and high-risk groups. Theresa Sokol, an assistant state epidemiologist in Louisiana, said that by the time the initial patients in the New Orleans area were identified the virus had already taken hold in the community. As cases mounted, she said, social distancing became a more effective tool than contact tracing. But outside New Orleans there is reason to believe that digging deeply into all cases can yield results, especially when combined with the governor’s statewide stay-at-home order, Sokol said: “I believe that there is still time.”  Like other municipalities in the New York area, Ridgefield closed its schools and non-essential businesses. But the virus has continued to spread broadly beyond the cluster at the Benchmark Senior Living at Ridgefield Crossings facility, which has been linked to six of the town’s seven deaths. The town hired an additional employee to process the deluge of coronavirus-related data, but keeping up is a challenge. “It’s overwhelming for a small health department,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said. Looking ahead, experts see aggressive testing and contact tracing as key to handling subsequent waves of the virus. Kenneth Castro, a professor of global health, epidemiology, and infectious diseases at Emory University, said local, state and federal governments should start recruiting an “army” of people to handle contact investigations. “Identify and contain is better than having society shutdown. It’s a balancing act,” said Castro, who oversaw the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tuberculosis effort for two decades through 2013. “We won’t be able to maintain physical distancing forever.”  (This story has been refiled to correct spelling of “stretched” in paragraph four.)
'It's just impossible': tracing contacts takes backseat as virus spreads.

The Arkansas Department of Health issued the public health directive in a Nov. 22 letter that stated students without at least two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine either be vaccinated immediately or be barred from classrooms and school activities for at least 26 days. Brothers Shiloh Isaiah and Benjamin Andrew Bemis asked the Washington County Circuit to issue a temporary injunction, arguing “that the University of Arkansas failed to recognize and uphold our philosophical beliefs as enrolled students -- beliefs which include the choice to abstain from vaccinations.”   In a one-sentence order, Judge Doug Martin on Tuesday denied their request to be allowed to return to their classes without getting the vaccinations. Martin’s order didn’t explain the reason for the decision. Shiloh Bemis, 21, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he’s disappointed in the court’s order. “On a larger level, we are taking issue with the fact that we don’t think we’ve quite been given a choice that fully takes into account what we believe our rights to be,” the third-year architecture student from Fayetteville said. Benjamin Bemis didn’t respond to the Democrat-Gazette’s request for comment. State law requires vaccinations for students, but it also allows exemptions for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. But the state Health Department said even exempted students must heed the public health directive. “Even if they have an exemption, they still are supposed to be excluded from class and activities, since they are much more susceptible to getting the infection,” said Dr. Joel Tumlison, a physician specialist in the health department’s outbreak response team. “For any student, whether simply undervaccinated or with an exemption, if they change their mind and get the vaccine, they can then return to class/activities.” University spokesman Mark Rushing said the school will continue to follow the health department’s instructions. The university has had 26 mumps cases since September, according to health officials. As of last week, 168 students lacked the required vaccinations to attend classes, UA spokesman Zac Brown said.
Arkansas judge denies students’ appeal to vaccination policy.

A Facebook post from the family of 32-year-old Pete Frates said he is resting comfortably at Massachusetts General Hospital and that “doctors, medicine, prayers and love continue to help him get stronger.” After some news outlets erroneously reported Monday that he had died, Frates responded by posting a 45-second video on Twitter showing him lying in a hospital bed while the song “Alive” by Pearl Jam plays in the background. Frates’ family said Sunday that he had returned to the hospital and was “battling this beast ALS like a Superhero.” He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2012. The disease weakens muscles and impairs physical functioning. There is no known cure. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge raised more than $220 million when it took off worldwide on social media in 2014. Frates is a native of Beverly, Massachusetts, and played baseball at Boston College. He played professionally in Germany after graduation and in amateur leagues upon his return to the U.S. He received his diagnosis after getting hit on the wrist by a pitch and noticing it wasn’t healing properly.

Man who inspired ice bucket challenge is back in hospital.