Covid-19 Investigation and Contact Tracing Effort

PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA – Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) has launched a massive scaling-up of its ongoing communicable disease investigation and contact tracing program to address the increased number of cases resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and increased testing.

Normally, MCDPH has a standing team of 16 epidemiologist investigators who investigate infectious diseases, like mumps or pertussis, and conduct contact tracing efforts for those cases.

According to a press release of the County of Maricopa as the number of Covid-19 cases increased in the county, the amount of work increased as well.

“After reassigning qualified internal staff to investigation to create a team of 25 working seven days a week, MCDPH is now implementing a plan that has already offered positions to 33 individuals, began onboarding 14 new staff this week, brought on partners to conduct contact tracing, and can be scaled up or down as needed’’, they said.

 When an individual tests positive for Covid-19, MCDPH is notified of that test result and opens an investigation.

Trained epidemiology investigators reach out to cases and conduct a thorough interview, which uncovers all the places and people the case was in contact with starting from 48 hours before their symptoms started.

This can include household contacts, workplaces, and other close contacts. The investigator then provides the case with detailed instructions for infection control for themselves and their household, managing their health, and when to seek additional care.

They will also be asked to enroll in a secure electronic system to track their symptoms for at least 10 days after symptoms started so Public Health can tell them when they no longer need to isolate.

Complete bulletin posted here.