Community-engaged COVID-19 contact tracing initiative in Chicago

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) partnered with 31 community-based organizations (CBOs) to implement contact tracing to identify and manage potential COVID-19 infection cases in the city of Chicago.

To evaluate the performance of the COVID-19 contact tracing, we utilized data between September 16, 2020, and December 31, 2021. Contact tracers collected data through phone interviews with potentially affected individuals. The level of initiation, timeliness, and completion of the contact tracing process were examined.

A total of 38,086 unique individuals were included in the analysis. Compared to White contacts, Blacks were more likely to refuse contact tracing, and Hispanics were less likely to be contacted within 7 days of exposure. Community areas with a greater number of contact tracing cases had a lower proportion of call completion.

There was significant difficulty conducting contact tracing in the early months of COVID-19 due to the high volume of infected individuals. Contact tracing efforts were less successful among racial/ethnic minority residents despite the city's efforts to hire and train community members as contact tracers by engaging a wide range of CBOs. Preparedness plans for future pandemic events will benefit from strategies to improve community response to surveillance programs.