City of Revere Response to COVID-19: April 27, 2020 Update
April 27, 2020
Following Six Weeks of Contact Tracing, Managed by School Nurses and Local Public Health Officials, City of Revere Releases New Data, Key Learnings
Work Will Be Critical to Containment as City Looks Forward to Strategies for Reopening
April 27, 2020 – Today the City of Revere released new data and key findings from the first six weeks of implementation of its COVID-19 contact tracing program. As of April 27, the Revere Board of Health has been notified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health of 1,064 positive cases of COVID-19 in the City of Revere. The contact tracing team has conducted phone outreach to an additional 946 individuals associated with these confirmed cases -- reinforcing the importance of self-quarantine, contacting employers to notify them of potential exposure, and connecting individuals with critical support services. The team has used data collected on an ongoing basis to update public health guidelines and respond to emerging trends and clusters.
“The work done in Revere to establish contact tracing from the city’s very first confirmed case of COVID-19 is helping us achieve two critical goals: containing the spread of the virus to the best of our ability, and laying the groundwork for a safer and more controlled reopening of the city, when the time comes,” said Dr. Nathalee Kong, Chair of the Revere Board of Health. “This dedicated team of nurses is achieving remarkable results and the residents of Revere are fortunate to have them working on behalf of their health and safety.”
The City’s contact tracing program, which has been in place since March 16, has been managed by the City’s public health nurse, a team of 12 school nurses, three volunteer nurses who are Revere residents, and a data management specialist. The team is using case management software the City purchased from Denver-based CiviCore. Through a phone intake process, nurses are collecting information from individuals confirmed to have COVID-19 to identify associated contacts likely exposed to the virus. From there, nurses are conducting phone outreach to individuals to notify them of their likely exposure, encourage them to self-quarantine and monitor for symptoms, answer questions and connect them to services, such as testing, food delivery, and temporary housing assistance. The contact tracing team has referred 115 individuals for support services through the City’s volunteer task management system.
As a result of the case management process, the City has been quick to implement new directives and provide updated guidance to residents and business owners. For example, after recognizing a cluster of cases tied to a grocery store within the City, public health officials in coordination with inspectional services required that stores drastically reduce the number of people allowed inside at a single time.
The City has also begun tracking individuals who have recovered from the virus. Looking ahead to the next several weeks and the potential lifting of certain restrictions, Revere will rely on its contact tracing system and full access to relevant data from the state to be able to quickly identify what’s working, where new clusters are emerging, and respond accordingly. It remains a city priority to provide assistance to both those individuals who have tested positive and their associated contacts, in order to reduce further spread.
City of Revere Data Highlights
- The City of Revere has been notified by the Department of Public Health of 1,064 cases of COVID-19; 35 individuals are deceased; 250 have recovered.
- There is a near equal distribution of gender among confirmed cases.
- Approximately 28% of confirmed cases are over the age of 60; 37% are between the ages of 40 and 59; 31% are between the ages of 20 and 39; 4% are under the age of 19.
- Individuals under the age of 19 make up more than half (56%) of all associated persons.
- Of the 35 deceased individuals, 23 were over the age of 80, 8 were between the ages of 60 and 79, 3 were between the ages of 40 and 59, and 1 individual was under the age of 40.
- 181 individuals initially tracked as associated persons have since been confirmed as positive cases.
- The City has been able to collect race and ethnicity data for approximately 42% of all confirmed cases - either through data provided by MAVEN or self-identification. The breakdown of this subset is as follows: 48% White, 40% Latino, 5.4% Middle Eastern, 3.9% Asian, 3.2% Black.