Contact Tracing

A Bluetooth low-energy-based contact-tracing system was successful at identifying potential COVID-19 contacts with additional specific data including location, date and cumulative contact time, researchers found.

Contact tracing and exposure investigation have helped to mitigate the spread of monkeypox virus in Massachusetts, where the first U.S. case in the current outbreak was detected, a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine found.

Universal testing and contact tracing failed to find evidence that near-capacity school buses were the source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at a school in Virginia, researchers reported.

The performance of home-based midnasal swab collection for SARS-CoV-2 detection was comparable to clinic-based nasopharyngeal swab collection, according to a research letter published in JAMA Network Open.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, privacy laws and regulations have been loosened to accommodate increased telehealth services and avoid in-office visits.

Recent survey results show that less than half of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection reported being in contact with someone infected. This was the top story in infectious disease last week.

The CDC released national guidance for reopening schools, mass transit, child care, camps, workplaces and bars and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an effort to aid contact tracing and infection control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions and public health departments and working with developers to create apps that assess the spread of the virus in communities across the United States.

As states begin to reopen despite the ongoing pandemic, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, or IDSA, released a statement calling on the White House to follow advice from public health experts when developing federal strategies to safely reopen school and businesses.

In recent weeks, state and local governments across the United States have begun making plans to reopen their economies after weeks of social distancing and stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.