Assessment of contact tracing for COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness, Salt Lake County Health Department, March–May 2020

A Scoping Review of the Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Persons Experiencing Homelessness in North America and Europe

“…A number of included studies reported infection attack rates of SARS-CoV-2 among study participants: 29 studies measured positivity rates (i.e., current infection) [ 13 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ], seven measured seroprevalence (i.e., prevalence of antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, indicating historic infection) [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ], and four measured both positivity and seroprevalence rates [ 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]. Additionally, data regarding SARS-CoV-2 symptoms reported by study participants were provided by 32 articles [ 7 , 8 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 38 , 42 , 45 , 46 , …”

“…Of these, six reported that routine surveillance testing occurred regularly [ 35 , 41 , 44 , 52 , 58 ]. Eight studies described close-contact- or symptom-based testing strategies [ 36 , 44 , 49 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 71 ], and one study did not specify reasons participants were tested [ 60 ]. Two studies reported positivity rates using retrospective [ 57 ] or prospective (person-level data from COVID-19 surveillance and reporting systems) [ 37 ] data from cohorts of the populations that were tested for SARS-CoV-2.…”

“…One study by Jatt et al [ 36 ] described how testing progressed from only symptomatic individuals and close contacts to outbreak testing and finally to routine surveillance testing from 11 March to 29 April 2020 in a large healthcare facility in Los Angeles. Of the 33 studies that measured infection rates, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were the most commonly reported tests used for diagnosis ( n = 24) [ 34 , 36 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 60 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 77 ]. Other measures included self-reported positive test results ( n = 3) [ 13 , 59 , 70 ], antigen testing ( n = 1) [ 35 ], and assays ( n = 1) [ 33 ].…”

“…Nine studies provided information regarding COVID-19 related hospitalisations among PEH [ 8 , 34 , 48 , 49 , 55 , 68 , 73 , 75 , 76 ], among which six provided hospitalisation rates [ 34 , 48 , 49 , 55 , 68 , 73 ]. A study by Imbert et al [ 73 ] reported that 8% of shelter residents who tested positive between 5 April and 15 April 2020 required hospitalisation, and a study by Tobolowsky et al [ 55 ] reported that 20% of residents that tested positive between 30 March and 1 April 2020 were hospitalised.…”

Coronavirus Disease Contact Tracing Outcomes and Cost, Salt Lake County, Utah, USA, March–May 2020

“…Persons should seek testing as soon as they experience COVID-19–like symptoms and begin isolation while results are pending. Because of early viral shedding, health department messaging should strongly direct contacts to obtain testing when possible, especially contacts with a higher risk for exposure, such as caregivers within households, populations in congregate settings, and contacts with underlying conditions; or for contacts who have an occupation requiring them to be in contact with other vulnerable persons, such as long-term care facility workers, daycare workers, and those who work with unvaccinated persons ( 33 , 34 ). Contact tracing metrics evaluated in this study can help other jurisdictions design, improve, and scale up contact tracing programs as needed for their specific epidemiologic contexts.…”