Understand Contact Tracing and help the Department of Health keep your family safe from COVID-19 spread

WHAT IS CONTACT TRACING? Contact Tracing is the long-standing Public Health practice used to identify those who come into contact with people who have tested positive for many contagious diseases; for example, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and - recently of course - COVID-19. Contact tracing is a little like detective work: trained staff interview people who have been diagnosed with a contagious disease to figure out who they may have recently been in contact with. Then, they call those close contacts* and encourage them to quarantine to prevent spreading the disease. Think of it as part of public health work, part investigation.

If a resident of South Orange or Maplewood tests positive for COVID-19, contact tracing begins:

1. The local Department of Health (DOH) officers recommend that the COVID-19+ resident inform their close contacts of their positive result. *Close contact is defined as being within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

2. The local DOH officers and/or trained professionals will:

• Call that COVID-19+ resident to determine close contacts to whom they may have spread the virus; then they will get in touch with those close contacts
• Give instructions about next steps, such as self-isolation for the COVID+ individual and quarantine for close contacts
• Maintain confidentiality of the COVID+ individual
• NOT ask for your Social Security Number, bank account or salary information, money, or credit card numbers.

We encourage you to answer the phone – the DOH may be calling you!

Be well. Be safe. Be part of the solution to keep your family and friends safe from COVID-19 spread.