Division of Health offers details on contact tracing visits

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Delaware Division of Health Community Health employees are conducting contact tracing and case investigations.

The department, worried about scam artists who might pose as health care workers, spelled out details of how the teams will operate.

DPH field teams of two will personally visit individuals for whom DPH has no phone number to advise them they have a positive test result for COVID-19, or have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the agency.

Much of the contact tracing activity will involve phone calls  under a contract with NORC,  a part of the University of Chicago. 

The DPH employees will have state employee identification and most likely will be wearing a shirt that identifies them as a DPH employee. They will also be wearing a mask, gloves, and may even be wearing a face shield, the agency stated.

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The workers will ask permission to ask the person a series of questions, but will not request to enter the home unless they are unable to maintain the individual’s privacy outside the home. Contact tracers do not ask for bank account or Social Security information.

An individual’s information will not be shared with any person or organization, and will only be used to help DPH monitor a person’s health status through additional phone calls to that person to help stop the spread of the disease. DPH does not release any personal information to the public. For additional information about contact tracing,  click here.

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