A Multifaceted Evaluation of a COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program in King County, Washington.
J Public Health Manag Pract
; 28(4): 334-343, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2051746
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT Despite the massive scale of COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing (CI/CT) programs operating worldwide, the evidence supporting the intervention's public health impact is limited. OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the Public Health-Seattle & King County (PHSKC) CI/CT program, including its reach, timeliness, effect on isolation and quarantine (I&Q) adherence, and potential to mitigate pandemic-related hardships.DESIGN:
This program evaluation used descriptive statistics to analyze surveillance records, case and contact interviews, referral records, and survey data provided by a sample of cases who had recently ended isolation.SETTING:
The PHSKC is one of the largest governmental local health departments in the United States. It serves more than 2.2 million people who reside in Seattle and 38 other municipalities.PARTICIPANTS:
King County residents who were diagnosed with COVID-19 between July 2020 and June 2021. INTERVENTION The PHSKC integrated COVID-19 CI/CT with prevention education and service provision.RESULTS:
The PHSKC CI/CT team interviewed 42 900 cases (82% of cases eligible for CI/CT), a mean of 6.1 days after symptom onset and 3.4 days after SARS-CoV-2 testing. Cases disclosed the names and addresses of 10 817 unique worksites (mean = 0.8/interview) and 11 432 other recently visited locations (mean = 0.5/interview) and provided contact information for 62 987 household members (mean = 2.7/interview) and 14 398 nonhousehold contacts (mean = 0.3/interview). The CI/CT team helped arrange COVID-19 testing for 5650 contacts, facilitated grocery delivery for 7253 households, and referred 9127 households for financial assistance. End of I&Q Survey participants (n = 304, 54% of sampled) reported self-notifying an average of 4 nonhousehold contacts and 69% agreed that the information and referrals provided by the CI/CT team helped them stay in isolation.CONCLUSIONS:
In the 12-month evaluation period, CI/CT reached 42 611 households and identified thousands of exposure venues. The timing of CI/CT relative to infectiousness and difficulty eliciting nonhousehold contacts may have attenuated the intervention's effect. Through promotion of I&Q guidance and services, CI/CT can help mitigate pandemic-related hardships.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Public Health Manag Pract
Journal subject:
Public Health
/
Health Services
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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