COVID-19 Case and Contact Investigation in an Office Workspace

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Public Health Response

Background:

• A COVID-19 outbreak occurred in a combined military and civilian office.
• An embedded public health officer was available to manage the response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the contact investigation and mitigation efforts following a COVID-19 case in an office setting.
• To highlight the effectiveness of integrated public health and office management.

Main Methods:

• Contact investigation of 150 exposed coworkers.
• Risk assessment of exposures (medium and low risk).
• Implementation of mitigation strategies including telework, cleaning, and virtual forums.

Main Results:

• 37 medium-risk and 113 low-risk exposures identified.
• 10 contacts reported or developed COVID-like symptoms; all tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.
• No hospitalizations occurred among contacts.

Conclusions:

• Close integration of public health and office management enables swift risk identification and control.
• Effective mitigation strategies can prevent widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in workplaces.
• The presence of an embedded public health officer streamlined the outbreak response.