instruction:
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.
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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.)
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'It's just impossible': tracing contacts takes backseat as virus spreads.


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Since Nov. 1, South Carolina has recorded 86 reported cases of the contagious disease. State Epidemiologist Linda Bell said Monday that’s more than four times what state officials normally expect to see. Over the last 10 years, South Carolina averaged 19 reported cases of hepatitis A annually. Most of the new cases have occurred in Aiken County, and almost half of all cases involve individuals who reported drug use, Bell said. Still, the general population needn’t be overly concerned, she said. “But we are seeing cases higher that what we expect to see,” Bell said. “And so it’s important for us to do our prevention efforts early to reach those high-risk groups, get them vaccinated ... so that we can prevent” a severe outbreak. The State reports the Department of Health and Environmental Control is offering no-cost vaccines to high risk groups including drug users, homeless, formerly incarcerated and sexually-active gay men. Additionally, health officials recommend all children get two doses of the vaccine as part of their immunization schedule. Of the 86 reported cases in South Carolina, 59 have led to hospitalization and one resulted in death, the DHEC said. Hepatitis is a disease characterized by inflammation of the liver. It comes in many forms, including hepatitis A, B and C. As a result, individuals with chronic liver disease, like cirrhosis, are at increased risk of complications if infected and should be vaccinated. The virus-borne infection can be prevented by vaccination and is usually transmitted person-to-person through consumption of contaminated food or water, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibodies produced in response to hepatitis A infection last for life and protect against reinfection. Infection usually results in sickness in two to six weeks after exposure. Symptoms include fatigue, loss of appetite, stomach pain, nausea, and yellowing of the eyes and skin. Symptoms usually resolve within two months of infection, according to the CDC. State public health officials in February declared an outbreak in Aiken County after an employee at a second restaurant in Aiken tested positive for the virus, the DHEC said. Bell, though, stressed transmission by food or beverage is uncommon. “Most transmission in the United States is through person-to-person contact,” Bell said. “Good hygiene - diligently washing your hands - is a good way to prevent hepatitis A, as well as not sharing personal items,” including drug equipment, she said, adding the state has received reports of hepatitis A from people using various drugs, “everything from marijuana to meth.” Residents can schedule an appointment for a vaccination at their local health department by calling 855-472-3432 or going to http://bit.ly/2HhEsM8 . ___ Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com
answer:
South Carolina declares hepatitis outbreak.


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Headline results from a study of 400 patients in Europe and the United States showed the test to detect cancerous cells in the bloodstream correctly identified cancer in up to 95 percent of cases, the company said. The test will enable women with ovarian cancer to be referred to gynaecological surgeons who specialize in the care of women with ovarian cancer, while patients with a benign tumor will not have to travel to specialist centers. Angle founder and chief executive Andrew Newland said the study had demonstrated the ability to correctly detect cancer, and importantly correctly detect the absence of cancer. The test was nearly twice as successful in eliminating false-positives than current tests, he said. It also had the potential to identify targets on the tumor that could be used to inform treatment strategies, he said. “The vision is that a woman who has been diagnosed with having an abnormal pelvic mass will have a simple blood test and from that we will deduce whether or not she has cancer and if she does which drug would be most suitable for her,” he said. The performance of the test would now be validated in another study designed to meet European CE Mark and US FDA regulatory requirements, he said. Shares in Angle, which has a market cap of about 50 million pounds, rose 2.2 percent to 68 pence.
answer:

Blood test by Britain's Angle detects ovarian cancer in study.