An Academic-Health Department Community Partnership to Expand Disease Investigation and Contact Tracing Capacity and Efficiency During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Disease investigation and contact tracing are long-standing public health strategies used to control the spread of infectious disease. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, health departments across the country have lacked the internal workforce capacity and technology needed to efficiently isolate positive cases and quarantine close contacts to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This article describes an innovative disease investigation and contact tracing program developed through a formalized community partnership between a local county health department and local university.