Contact tracing can be an effective tool for identifying new cases of COVID-19, but a new study found that close contacts were reported for only about a third of laboratory confirmed cases.

Contact tracing methods have fallen short in reaching close contacts of people with COVID-19 to curb the spread of the disease, according to a recent study that found no close contacts were reported for two-thirds of laboratory confirmed cases.

Out of 74,185 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19, 43,931 (59%) were interviewed by health officials, and 24,705 (33%) named a total 74,834 people as close contacts.

Overall, only 0.7 close contacts per confirmed COVID-19 case were notified and 0.5 close contacts per case were monitored.

“One way to help people with COVID-19 feel more comfortable about having these conversations with health department workers and health care professionals is to improve messaging about the importance of contact tracing and case investigation for controlling the spread of COVID-19.”.

Monitoring close contacts was found to be an effective way to identify undiagnosed cases of COVID-19, with a higher test positivity rate found among close contact than among the general population in most study areas.

A study conducted in Delaware last year found that mitigation efforts including mask mandates and contact tracing were associated with an 82% reduction in COVID-19 incidence and 100% reduction in associated mortality by June