Why Hard Data is Essential for Effective Contact Tracing

As Covid-19 continues to spread across the U.S., 14 states have started sharing contact tracing data - not only to keep the public informed, but also to help other states fight the virus by crowdsourcing their insights and strategies. There’s a powerful message here: hard data is the best weapon we have to fight off this virus more effectively by identifying key patterns and realities. 

We can see what exactly those trends are via a recent report by NPR, which gathered and analyzed the information states have released. So, what insights were gained? Let’s take a look at Louisiana, which published what settings caused the most outbreaks in the state, and how many cases arose from them. According to the release, worksites (including offices, food processing plants, and other industrial settings) accounted for an unsettling 46% of total positive cases from outbreaks. 

This is a critical truth for two reasons. First, it underscores the need for workplace-led contact tracing to curb a high source of transmission, and secondly it shows the power of identifying high-risk locations. As we’ve written about in a previous blog, identifying high-risk places in addition to high-risk people can help organizations deploy both reactive and proactive measures faster. For example, contact tracing data might show that a specific break room or bathroom is a high-traffic, high-exposure area. Armed with this information, HR managers could amp up cleaning procedures to that area and put protocols in place that would minimize foot traffic. This not only reduces workplace risk, but also helps employers and employees alike feel safer when they come to work.

Another takeaway from the report? The majority of states aren’t sharing data at all, leaving organizations in the dark about how the virus is being handled in their communities. Without access to this information, it’s even more important for businesses to implement their own systems of contact tracing to ensure safety at their locations. Even the states that are releasing their data show that government-led contact tracing isn’t going well. In New Jersey, 45% of cases reached refused to provide names of their contacts. In North Dakota, cases have reached an all-time high and the state doesn’t have nearly enough staff to track the spread. The bottom line? The private sector cannot rely on the government to get the contact tracing job done, and therefore must take it into their own hands if they want to protect their workers, keep operations running smoothly and safeguard their futures.

Government-led contact tracing is doing one thing right, however: they anonymize the data they share. People are rightfully worried about breaches of privacy when data is collected and circulated - hence why so many won't share the names of their contacts, as we mentioned above. By keeping data anonymous, health teams can gather hard, useful numbers, without compromising personal identifiable information.

At Proxfinity, we take data and privacy very seriously, and understand that we need smart solutions to give us hard data to contact trace effectively. That’s why our smart badge ResCUE anonymizes user data as it’s collected, and then our software creates a precise, real-time map of person-to-person interaction to help employers understand the data that’s been gathered. Even as Covid-19 continues to circulate in the U.S., hard data can help organizations regain some control over their operations, with confidence that they’re doing everything they can to keep their workers and workplaces safe. 

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