Contact tracing during Phase I of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Province of Trento, Italy: key findings and recommendations

IntroductionContact tracing is a key pillar of COVID-19 control. In response to the COVID-19 epidemic in the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy) a software was developed to standardize data collection and facilitate surveillance of contacts and outbreaks and map the links between bases and contacts. In this paper, we present the results of contact tracing efforts during Phase I of the epidemic (March-April, 2020, mostly under lockdown), including sociodemographic characteristics of contacts who became cases and of the cases who infected one or more contact. MethodsA contact tracing website was developed that included components for geolocation and linking of cases and contacts using open source software. Information on community-based confirmed and probable cases and their contacts was centralized on the website. Information on cases came directly from the central case database, information on contacts was collected by telephone interviews following a standard questionnaire. Contacts were followed via telephone, emails, or an app. ResultsThe 2,812 laboratory-diagnosed community cases of COVID-19 had 6,690 community contacts, of whom 890 (13.3%) developed symptoms. Risk of developing symptomatic disease increased with age and was higher in workplace contacts than cohabitants or non-cohabiting family or friends. The greatest risk of transmission to contacts was found for the 14 cases <15 years of age (22.4%); 8 of the 14, who ranged in age from <1 to 11 years) infected 11 of 49 contacts. Overall, 606 outbreaks were identified, 74% of which consisted of only two cases. DiscussionThe open-source software program permitted the centralized tracking of contacts and rapid identification of links between cases. Workplace contacts were at higher risk of developing symptoms. Although childhood contacts were less likely to become cases, children were more likely to infect household members, perhaps because of the difficulty of successfully isolating children in household settings.