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COVID-19 contact tracing in two counties — North Carolina, June–July 2020
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September 22, 2020
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Source: MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report ; v. 69, early release, September 22, 2020
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Corporate Authors:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). Epidemic Intelligence Service. ; CDC Contact Tracing Assessment Team. ; CDC COVID-19 Response Team. ; North Carolina. Department of Health and Human Services. ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). Career Epidemiology Field Officer Program. ; ... More +
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Description:What is already known about this topic? Successful SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing requires timeliness and community engagement to encourage participation and cooperation.
What is added by this report? During periods of high COVID-19 incidence in North Carolina, 48% of COVID-19 patients reported no contacts, and 25% of contacts were not reached in Mecklenburg County. In Randolph County, 35% of COVID-19 patients reported no contacts, and 48% of contacts were not reached. Median interval from index patient specimen collection to contact notification was 6 days.
What are the implications for public health practice? Despite aggressive efforts by health departments, many COVID-19 patients do not report contacts, and many contacts cannot be reached. Improved timeliness of contact tracing, community engagement, and community-wide mitigation are needed to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Contact tracing is a strategy implemented to minimize the spread of communicable diseases (1,2). Prompt contact tracing, testing, and self-quarantine can reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (3,4). Community engagement is important to encourage participation in and cooperation with SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing (5). Substantial investments have been made to scale up contact tracing for COVID-19 in the United States. During June 1–July 12, 2020, the incidence of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina increased 183%, from seven to 19 per 100,000 persons per day* (6). To assess local COVID-19 contact tracing implementation, data from two counties in North Carolina were analyzed during a period of high incidence. Health department staff members investigated 5,514 (77%) persons with COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County and 584 (99%) in Randolph Counties. No contacts were reported for 48% of cases in Mecklenburg and for 35% in Randolph. Among contacts provided, 25% in Mecklenburg and 48% in Randolph could not be reached by telephone and were classified as nonresponsive after at least one attempt on 3 consecutive days of failed attempts. The median interval from specimen collection from the index patient to notification of identified contacts was 6 days in both counties. Despite aggressive efforts by health department staff members to perform case investigations and contact tracing, many persons with COVID-19 did not report contacts, and many contacts were not reached. These findings indicate that improved timeliness of contact tracing, community engagement, and increased use of community-wide mitigation are needed to interrupt SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Suggested citation for this article: Lash RR, Donovan CV, Fleischauer AT, et al. COVID-19 Contact Tracing in Two Counties — North Carolina, June–July 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 22 September 2020.
mm6938e3.htm?s_cid=mm6938e3_w
pdfs/mm6938e3-H.pdf
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Pages in Document:4 numbered pages
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Volume:69
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Issue:36
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