Contact Tracing During the COVID-19 Epidemic: Insights from the Experience of the Veneto Region in Italy

Background: Nonpharmaceutical public health interventions, such as contact tracing (CT), have been widely implemented worldwide to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Objectives: This study investigated the association between CT activity and COVID-19 cases, as well as the impact of timely contact with positive cases on hospitalizations in the Veneto region in northeastern Italy. Methods: Data sources included a CT-focused questionnaire, regional daily CT activity data, and a regional database of daily COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. Negative binomial regression models were used to assess associations between CT activity and the number of positive cases, the number of hospitalizations, the time to contact cases, the number of positive cases traced, and the number of CT operators. Different organizational models (OMs) were compared in terms of their effectiveness. Results: Hospitalization rates decreased by 54% when ind...