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Volume 30, Number 2—February 2024
Dispatch

Adapting COVID-19 Contact Tracing Protocols to Accommodate Resource Constraints, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 2021

Seonghye Jeon1Comments to Author , Lydia Watson-Lewis1, Gabriel Rainisch, Chu-Chuan Chiu, François M. Castonguay, Leah S. Fischer, Patrick K. Moonan, John E. Oeltmann, Bishwa B. Adhikari, Hannah Lawman23, and Martin I. Meltzer2
Author affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (S. Jeon, G. Rainisch, F.M. Castonguay, L.S. Fischer, P.K. Moonan, J.E. Oeltmann, B.B. Adhikari, M.I. Meltzer); Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (L. Watson-Lewis, C.-C. Chiu, H. Lawman); University of Montreal School of Public Health, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (F.M. Castonguay)

Main Article

Table 1

COVID-19 incidence, reported CICT program metrics, and CICT staff hours before and after CICT protocol change, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 2021*

Characteristic Period 1, before protocol change Period 2, after protocol change
Evaluation dates
 Jun 23–Aug 17
 Sep 1–Oct 26
COVID-19 incidence
Mean daily incidence, cases/100,000 persons† 9 18
Total no. reported cases 7,544 15,681
% Population fully vaccinated
 58
 65
CICT program performance metrics
No. case-patients reached for interviews‡ 5,685 9,351
No. case-patients who completed interviews (% all case-patients) 3,172 (42) 4,537 (29)
No. interviewed case-patients naming >1 contact 852 1,074
No. contacts identified 1,922 2,375
No. contacts notified 1,372 1,853
No. contacts monitored§ 883 1,234
Timing of case-patient interview, days after specimen collection¶ 3 2
Timing of contact notification, days after specimen collection#
 4
 3
CICT staff hours
Average no. CICT staff per week 83 85
Total staff hours over the 8-wk period** 19,890 12,788

*CICT, case investigation and contact tracing. †Mean daily incidence for each of the 8-week evaluation periods. ‡Include case-patients who completed interviews, those who were reached but refused interview, and those who were reached but were unable to be interviewed because of other reasons (e.g., incarcerated, deceased, and language barriers). §Contacts who agreed to share symptom updates with the health department through text or phone calls. ¶Reported median days from specimen collection to positive test results reported to health departments. #Reported median days from specimen collection to contact notification. **On average, CICT staff spent 80% of their work (i.e., 30 h/wk) dedicated to CICT during period 1 and 50% during period 2 (i.e., 18.75 h/wk).

Main Article

1These first authors contributed equally to this article.

2These senior authors contributed equally to this article.

3Current affiliation: Novo Nordisk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Page created: December 04, 2023
Page updated: January 24, 2024
Page reviewed: January 24, 2024
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