COVID-19 Contact Tracing Explained

Contact tracing is key to stopping the spread of deadly, infectious diseases around the world. A tried-and-true public health practice recently used to curb Ebola, it's now a critical part of the fight against COVID-19. 

In April 2020, Partners In Health launched the first statewide coronavirus contact tracing program in the United States—the Massachusetts Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC)—in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and local boards of health. PIH is also providing technical advice on contact tracing to other states and municipalities through its newly established U.S. Public Health Accompaniment Unit.

Contact tracing has been crucial in the global fight against COVID-19, too—countries from Peru to Sierra Leone have turned to contact tracing as a way to track and stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But how, exactly, does it work?

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