June 4, 2021

COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing in the US, 2020

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

Keywords (Tags): contact tracing, public health

• A cross-sectional study of contact tracing programs in 13 US health departments and 1 Indian Health Service Unit across 11 states found that 2 out of 3 individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection (N=74,185) were either not reached for interview or named no contacts when interviewed. A mean of 0.7 contacts per case were reached by telephone by public health authorities and only 0.5 per case were monitored. In 9 locations, the median time from specimen collection to contact notification was 6 days or less. In 6 of 8 locations with population comparison data, positive test prevalence was higher among named contacts than among the general population. The authors suggest these findings indicate that despite being a high-yield activity for case finding, contact tracing had a suboptimal impact on SARS-CoV-2 transmission. 

Lash et al. (June 2021). COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing in the US, 2020. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15850