Masking and Contact Tracing: Two Essential Strategies for Keeping Philly in the "Green" Phase

Philadelphia is set to enter the “green” phase of reopening on July 3 following over three months of economic closure due to COVID-19. Although many businesses will reopen and summer activities will begin or resume, it is important to remind ourselves that COVID-19 has not disappeared, and specific action will be required to ensure sustained declines in transmission and avoid rapid reclosure. The COVID-19 resource page on the Philadelphia Family Pride website is now updated with COVID-19 related resources within Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, in addition to information on virtual programming and social-distance friendly summer activities for families with children of all ages. In addition to the newly shared resources, we would like to share some information on two key efforts for expanding and sustaining reopening goals, which will require everyone’s cooperation to be successful – masking and contact tracing.

​masking

Source: NBC News

​Regular use of masks in public spaces has become common practice over the last few months. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among the 15 states plus Washington D.C. in which masks are required in any essential business, a trend which will likely continue as the states reopen. Although rules behind masking may seem arbitrary at times, emerging research continues to demonstrate the effectiveness of masking in preventing transmission of COVID-19, which will prove a key strategy for sustaining economic reopening. A recent study out of the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health evaluating the effectiveness of masking based on state mandates for public use found a significant decline in daily COVID-19 grown rate after orders were enacted requiring community masking. These effects increased over time, with an estimated 230,000 - 450,000 COVID-19 cases possibly averted because of masking mandates made between March 31 and May 22. Of the 20 states that required essential employee masking, but not community-wide masking, changes in county-level COVID-19 grown rates were small and insignificant, thus suggesting that community-wide masking policies are the only effective mask-based measures for slowing transmission. Thus, sustaining reopening plans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey will require all of us to adhere closely and conservatively with masking policies.

contact tracing: what to expect if you get the call

Source: WLRN Miami/South Florida

​​In addition to consistent masking, another key reopening strategy will include active participation in contact tracing. Many of you have likely heard some buzz around Contact Tracing, an emerging effort to identify and track individuals who may have encountered someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Prior to joining the PFP team, I spent some time volunteering with Penn Medicine’s Public Health COVID-19 Response Team, and wanted to share my experience so folks know what to expect if they receive a call.

Contact tracing involves two arms of efforts, one - identifying and interviewing positive “cases” on where and to whom they’ve been in contact within the two weeks prior to becoming ill, and two - calling potentially exposed “contacts” to inform them of their exposure and give guidance on how to slow the spread of transmission. If you test positive for the virus following testing at a  Penn Medicine facility or drive-thru center, or are identified as a contact, here are some explanations to common questions I have experienced through my work as a tracer. Please note, this guide is based on my personal experience with Penn Medicine and although many contact tracers follow similar operations, your experience may be different based on where you (or the positive case) got tested.
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1. How long will the interview take? What will I be asked? At Penn Medicine, the interviews typically last about 20 minutes for positive cases and 10 minutes for contacts. The questions are standard and will simply ask about the people and places you have encountered in the two weeks leading to your illness or exposure.
2. Is my information safe? Confidentiality is the most emphasized part of conducting contact tracing interviews. If someone other than the designated individual answers a call, tracers are not permitted to discuss test results or potential exposure. We will use vague language regarding the purpose of the call when initiating calls and leaving voicemails as not to violate the confidentiality of the patient/contact. In that same vein, a contact tracer will never tell a contact the name of the positive case who identified them. In fact, someone other than the tracer who interviewed you will call your identified contacts as an effort to maintain privacy. We do not use contact information for any purpose other than to notify the individual of potential exposure and give guidance. Callers (regardless of where you are tested) are health department employees, or in our case volunteers/employees of a health system, and do not store information anywhere that could be accessed for solicitation purposes.
3. What if I’m too sick to answer the questions? If you are too sick to complete the interview, but give permission for someone else to do so who can answer accurately, they can complete the interview for you. It is best for you to stay close by in case the person completing the interview is unsure of an answer. If you are too sick to answer the questions and don’t authorize someone else to answer on your behalf, we will not conduct the interview.
4. Are children expected to participate? If your child tests positive or is identified as a contact, the organization calling will either complete the interview with a parent/legal guardian or terminate the call once it is made aware that the individual is a minor (as of now, Penn Medicine does not do interviews for children at all).
5. Why am I being asked for the contact information of people I live with if they already know I’m sick? This might seem silly but is important so that every person potentially infected is delivered the exact same message on best practices and guidance to stay in self-quarantine for at least 14 days since the exposure date. This also helps us identify congregate living spaces and workplaces that may have multiple exposed residents or employees.
6. Will my employer know that I’m sick? Tracers need to identify businesses and workplaces with potentially exposed workers so they can be reported to the Department of Public Health (because COVID-19 is a notifiable disease, all patients who test positive for the illness will automatically be reported to the Department of Public Health). Although your workplace and/or coworkers may already know that you have tested positive prior to your contact tracing interview, the same reasoning applies as to why they are important to contact about a potential exposure as that of contacting family. It is also important for businesses to know how many of their employees have tested positive to take the proper precautions to avoid further transmission. Tracers will never reveal the name of the positive case to coworkers identified as case contacts.
7. Can the tracer help me if I am struggling with basic needs like paying my bills? Throughout the interview, Penn Medicine contact tracers actively screen for unmet social needs, like problems paying rent, getting groceries, or obtaining medication. If an unmet need is identified, the tracer can connect you to Penn’s Social Needs Response Team, a team of individuals trained in identifying and connecting the community with local resources for various necessities.

To reiterate, none of your information is shared outside of the contact tracing system and the Department of Public Health. Through the work contact tracers have done so far, we have saved lives and stopped the spread of disease, likely a piece of why Philadelphia’s case rates continue to decline. However, none of that work is possible without the trust and cooperation of the people we are calling. I hope this clarification will ease confusion regarding contact tracing and help you be more prepared if someone calls you. For more information, please see Penn Today’s recent article regarding contact tracing.

Post written by Taylor Goldberg, PFP Intern