Andy Parker, 67, of Collinsville, works in his home office. Since July, the gun-control activist has been working with the Virginia Department of Health on COVID-19 pandemic control. Those jobs can pay in the $25 to $30 per hour range, and the commonwealth has recently hired hundreds of contact tracers and case investigators.
Dan Casey
Andy Parker of Collinsville has worn a lot of hats in life. Many people know him as a gun-control activist, a cause he embraced after his daughter, Alison, and her WDBJ news co-worker Adam Ward were shot and killed by an demented ex-colleague in 2015.
Before that, Parker was an actor, a corporate headhunter and an elected supervisor in Henry County. In 2019, he added “author” to that list, with publication of a book, “For Alison: The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Father’s Fight for Gun Safety.”
Since July, he’s been working in a new trade — health contact tracing. Unfortunately, it’s probably the fastest-growing job category in the commonwealth.
Around the beginning of this year, according to its website, the Virginia Department of Health employed a few hundred tracers and case investigators, who kept tabs on the spread of communicable diseases such as measles or tuberculosis.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the ranks of tracers and investigators have swelled nearly tenfold. As of Friday, the commonwealth has 2,581 contact tracers or case investigators, according to Erin Beard, a VDH spokeswoman. The VDH is still looking to fill about 100 positions, she added.
The ideal number is based on population size, Beard said — the department needs roughly 30 tracers or investigators per 100,000 Virginia residents. Of the total, a little more than 600 are actual state employees. The remainder are contractors hired through staffing agencies.
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