NJ health department investigates, traces contacts for 6K COVID-19 cases
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A local New Jersey health department was able to investigate and effectively trace contacts for more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases despite having limited resources, according to a presentation at IDWeek.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the capabilities of local public health departments to respond to case investigations and contact tracing on a massive scale,” Thakur “Paul” Persaud, MD, PhD, MPH, health officer and director of the Paterson, New Jersey, Division of Health, told Healio. “Health departments were definitely overwhelmed as the disease unfolded and were unable to provide a comprehensive public health response to effectively limit viral transmission.”
According to Persaud and colleagues, the City of Paterson Communicable Disease Strike Team (PCDST) which is composed of 25 communicable disease investigators and contact tracers was established before the COVID-19 emergency in preparation for large-scale communicable disease outbreaks. The team was activated in March and used the New Jersey Department of Health’s Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System.
According to Persaud and colleagues, additional staff members were trained to bolster the response as new cases surged. A triage coordinator identified and assigned new cases to disease investigators on a 24/7 schedule. These investigators provided test results, interviewed patients and determined close contacts, and provided recommendations on isolating and quarantining.
,537 cases tested positive for COVID-19 in Paterson. Of these, 91% of patients and their contacts were interviewed through the team’s efforts, Persaud and colleagues reported. According to their report, the peak in Paterson occurred in mid-April, with 263 cases in a single day. By mid-June, daily number of cases declined to seven each day.
The COVID-19 mortality rate in Paterson was 4.65%, lower than surrounding towns in the same county (6%), other large cities in New Jersey (Newark 8%, Jersey City 7.4%) and New Jersey as a whole (7.59%).
The strike team, “though very limited on resources, effectively investigated and contact traced 6,537 COVID-19 cases by mid-June 2020 to help contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2,” Persaud said.
“Although it’s unclear if our intervention impacted mortality rates,” the researchers explained, “it is certain that contact tracing using a trained public health workforce is a model that has proven successful in Paterson. A local public health workforce vested in their communities can develop rapport needed to build trust and confidence in an intervention that elicits confidential medical information to limit viral transmission.”
Collapse
Persuad TD, et al. Abstract 69. Presented at: IDWeek; Oct. 21-25, 2020 (virtual meeting).
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts