New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
New York City Test & Trace Corps, New York, NY, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2022 Nov-Dec;137(2_suppl):46S-50S. doi: 10.1177/00333549221110833. Epub 2022 Jul 21.
High rates of hospitalization and death disproportionately affected Black, Latino, and Asian residents of New York City at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. To suppress COVID-19 transmission, New York City implemented a workforce of community engagement specialists (CESs) to conduct home-based contact tracing when telephone numbers were lacking or telephone-based efforts were unsuccessful and to disseminate COVID-19 information and sanitary supplies.
We describe the recruitment, training, and deployment of a multilingual CES workforce with diverse sociodemographic backgrounds during July-December 2020 in New York City. We developed standard operating procedures for infection control and safety measures, procured supplies and means of transportation, and developed protocols and algorithms to efficiently distribute workload.
From July through December 2020, 519 CESs were trained to conduct in-person contact tracing and activities in community settings, including homes, schools, and businesses, where they disseminated educational materials, face masks, hand sanitizer, and home-based specimen collection kits. During the study period, 94 704 records of people with COVID-19 and 61 246 contacts not reached by telephone-based contact tracers were referred to CESs. CESs attempted home visits or telephone calls with 84 230 people with COVID-19 and 49 303 contacts, reaching approximately 55 592 (66%) and 35 005 (71%), respectively. Other CES activities included monitoring recently arrived travelers under quarantine, eliciting contacts at point-of-care testing sites, and advising schools on school-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
This diverse CES workforce allowed for safe, in-person implementation of contact tracing and other prevention services for individuals and communities impacted by COVID-19. This approach prioritized equitable delivery of community-based support services and resources.
在 COVID-19 大流行初期，纽约市的黑人和拉丁裔以及亚裔居民住院率和死亡率过高。为了抑制 COVID-19 的传播，纽约市启用了一支由社区参与专家 (CES) 组成的劳动力队伍，当缺乏电话号码或电话追踪努力不成功时，他们会进行上门接触者追踪，并传播 COVID-19 信息和卫生用品。
我们描述了在 2020 年 7 月至 12 月期间，在纽约市招募、培训和部署一支具有多种社会人口背景的多语言 CES 劳动力的情况。我们制定了感染控制和安全措施的标准操作程序，采购了用品和交通工具，并制定了有效分配工作量的协议和算法。
从 2020 年 7 月至 12 月，519 名 CES 人员接受了培训，以在社区环境中进行现场接触者追踪和活动，包括家庭、学校和企业，在这些地方他们分发了教育材料、口罩、洗手液和家庭样本采集试剂盒。在研究期间，有 94704 例 COVID-19 患者和 61246 例未通过电话接触追踪员联系到的接触者被转介给 CES。CES 人员尝试了 84230 名 COVID-19 患者和 49303 名接触者的上门访问或电话联系，分别接触到约 55592 人（66%）和 35005 人（71%）。CES 的其他活动包括监测正在接受隔离的新抵达旅行者、在护理点检测点征集接触者以及就学校的 COVID-19 缓解策略向学校提供咨询。
这支多元化的 CES 劳动力队伍确保了 COVID-19 患者和社区的安全、面对面的接触者追踪和其他预防服务的实施。这种方法优先考虑公平提供基于社区的支持服务和资源。
