NEW YORK - The city's contact tracing program finally gets underway Monday.

Nearly 2,000 people have been trained to track down New Yorkers who may have been exposed to coronavirus.

More than 1,700 tracers will contact friends, family, and others who may have been near someone who recently contracted the virus.

About half of the tracers live in neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19.

The tracers are split into two groups: case investigators and monitors.

Investigators will call COVID-positive patients and ask for their contacts, and monitors will follow up with those contacts.

Tracers will also ask people who've tested positive if they need help finding a place to isolate.