To the extent possible, public health staff should check in with contacts to make sure they are self-monitoring and have not developed symptoms. They should monitor themselves by checking their temperature twice daily and watching for cough or shortness of breath.

Contacts are encouraged to stay home and maintain social distance from others (at least 6 feet) until 14 days after their last exposure, in case they also become ill.Contacts are provided with education, information, and support to understand their risk, what they should do to separate themselves from others who are not exposed, monitor themselves for illness, and the possibility that they could spread the infection to others even if they themselves do not feel ill.They are not told the identity of the patient who may have exposed them. To protect patient privacy, contacts are only informed that they may have been exposed to a patient with the infection.Public health staff then begin contact tracing by warning these exposed individuals (contacts) of their potential exposure as rapidly and sensitively as possible.In case investigation, public health staff work with a patient to help them recall everyone with whom they have had close contact during the timeframe while they may have been infectious.Case investigation is part of the process of supporting patients with suspected or confirmed infection.Certain core principles of case investigation and contact tracing must always be adhered to: Communities must scale up and train a large workforce and work collaboratively across public and private agencies to stop the transmission of COVID-19. This web page highlights basic principles of case investigation and contact tracing to stop COVID-19 transmission detailed guidance for health departments is available.Ĭase investigation and contact tracing, a core disease control measure employed by local and state health department personnel for decades, is a key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19. Updated language to align with new quarantine guidance.

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