Analysis of data showed 46% of infections were determined to be associated with exposure to ill family members or relatives, 19% from other community sources (eg, church, restaurants, etc
Analysis of data showed 46% of infections were determined to be associated with exposure to ill family members or relatives, 19% from other community sources (eg, church, restaurants, etc.), and 14% from vetted occupational exposures. the interested reader is referred to addendum text accompanying Supplemental Physique 1A (SF1A) and Supplemental Physique 1B (SF1B) which depict the S gene drop off and discusses further technical matters. Of note, gene typing was not available for specialized studies or tracking contamination transmission patterns amongst employees. However, sequencer technology has been purchased and soon will be deployed in the clinic. Surveillance for variants of concern is important because it enables occupational health services to offer timely, critical information to senior management. For example, should a variant of concern with virulent qualities be detected, appropriate workplace public health messaging can be recommended. This is a topic of great interest in the scientific community as well as the general public, including workers in the large workplace. BENCHMARK TWO: ASSERTIVE CONTACT TRACING The occurrence of a molecular ANGPT1 test result positive for COVID-19 brought on a protocol for immediate case isolation and contact tracing for suspected workplace exposures. Contact tracing was led by an experienced occupational health physician with public health Lercanidipine expertise supported by two lead BSN nurses and other nursing personnel. This team completed the Johns Hopkins online contact tracing course4 and stayed abreast with evolving Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on contact tracing, case definition, and isolation and quarantine recommendations. Of the 598 contact traces in the reporting period, 80% of the index cases were determined to have uncovered 2 or fewer workers, with a range of 0 to 23 exposures. The modal Lercanidipine number of exposures was 0 (48%) and the mean Lercanidipine cumulative number of workplace exposures recorded on a weekly basis was 18 (SD?=?21; range 0 to 76). Importantly, only 2% of the index cases were associated with more than 10 exposures. Consistent with the medical literature, most exposures and their case transmissions occur with but a few individuals; thus, identifying and isolating these high-risk cases is extremely important.13,15 Success in reducing infections depends both on rapid case identification and rapid contact tracing with isolation/quarantine. Modeling has shown that immediate contact tracing (no time delay) can reduce onward transmission of contamination by 80%, and completion within with 3?days is associated with 41% reduction in transmission.34 The mean time from sample collection to test result was 0.57?days and a positive result triggered immediate deployment of the contact tracing team. A contact trace event ended only when all potential uncovered individuals had been evaluated. At times, multiple contact tracers worked well into the evening hours until completion. With rapid implementation of this protocol, HSD substantially suppressed workplace contamination transmissions. Of note, contact tracing was limited to evaluating workplace exposures and risks. The scope of operations was limited as we are an occupational health clinic serving a single large employer. Uncovered and ill employees were advised to curtail risk of exposure to family and community contacts, but intensive contact tracing was focused on the workplace. All identified COVID-19 cases were reported to the State public health department, as required (along with all RT-qPCR and serology assessments administered). Contact tracing also revealed clues to the likely routes of exposure for infections. Analysis of data showed 46% of infections were determined to be associated with exposure to ill family members or relatives, 19% from other community sources (eg, church, restaurants, etc.), and 14% from vetted occupational exposures. Of the community exposures, 80% appeared associated with attending church or religious activities, restaurant dining, viewing or participating in athletics (including fitness centers), and shopping. This type of granular detail Lercanidipine on exposures was valuable for informing company management and educating the workplace community about high-risk activities. Multiple communication channels were used to disseminate workplace public health messaging on risky activities. High quality contact tracing.