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Background: Accurate, complete, timely data were essential to effective contact tracing for COVID-19. Maryland Department of Health partnered with Maryland's designated health information exchange, Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients (CRISP), to establish data enhancement processes that provided the foundation for Maryland's successful contact tracing program., Methods: Hourly, electronic positive COVID-19 test results were routed through CRISP to the contact tracing data platform. The CRISP matched reports against its master patient index to enhance the record with demographic, locating, fatality, vaccination, and hospitalization data. Records were deduplicated and flagged if associated with a congregate setting, select state universities, or recent international travel. χ 2 Tests were used to assess if CRISP-added phone numbers resulted in better contact tracing outcomes., Results: During June 15, 2020, to September 1, 2021, CRISP pushed 531,094 records to the state's contact tracing data platform within an hour of receipt; of those eligible for investigation, 99% had a phone number. The CRISP matched 521,731 (98%) records to their master patient index, allowing for deduplication and enrichment. The CRISP flagged 15,615 cases in congregate settings and 3304 cases as university students; these records were immediately routed for outbreak investigation. Records with an added phone number were significantly more likely to be successfully reached compared with cases with no added phone number ( P = 0.01)., Conclusions: The CRISP enhanced COVID-19 electronic laboratory reports with a near-instant impact on public health actions. The partnership and data processing workflows can serve as a blueprint for data modernization in public health agencies across the United States., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: None declared., (Copyright © 2022 Written work prepared by employees of the Federal Government as part of their official duties is, under the U.S. Copyright Act, a “work of the United States Government” for which copyright protection under Title 17 of the United States Code is not available. As such, copyright does not extend to the contributions of employees of the Federal Government.)

Background: Despite substantial investments in ending the HIV epidemic, disparities in HIV care persist, and there is an urgent need to evaluate novel and scalable approaches to improving HIV care engagement and viral suppression in real-world settings., Objective: This paper aims to describe a study protocol for a pragmatic type II hybrid effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial comparing existing standard of care clinic HIV linkage, adherence, and retention (LAR) protocols to a mobile health (mHealth)-enhanced linkage, adherence, and retention (mLAR) intervention., Methods: The study will enroll 450 participants from clinics in Baltimore City. Eligibility criteria include being ≥18 years of age, having a new HIV diagnosis or being HIV-positive and out of care, or being HIV-positive and deemed by clinic staff as someone who could benefit from linkage and retention services. Participants randomized to the intervention receive mHealth-supported patient navigation for 12 months. Participants in the control group receive the referring clinic's standard of care patient support. The primary outcome is HIV virologic suppression at 12 months. A subset of participants will be interviewed at 12 months to learn about their HIV care experiences and, for those in the intervention arm, their experiences with the mLAR intervention. This protocol was developed in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) and the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and with input from a community advisory board., Results: Enrollment began on February 25, 2020. As of August 11, 2022, 411 of the 450 target participants had been enrolled., Conclusions: Pragmatic implementation science trials designed with input from key stakeholders, including health departments and community members, can help evaluate the evidence for mHealth interventions to reduce HIV health disparities., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03934437; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03934437., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/42691., (©Joyce Jones, Jane McKenzie-White, Ronald Saxton, Suzanne M Grieb, Bareng Nonyane, Cadeesha Graham, Anthony Cano, Sheridan Johnson, Lanisha Childs, Adena Greenbaum, Colin Flynn, Marcia Pearlowitz, Shivaun Celano, Larry W Chang, Kathleen R Page. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 14.02.2023.)

During July 2021, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) B.1.617.2 variant infections, including vaccine breakthrough infections, occurred after large public gatherings in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA, prompting a multistate investigation. Public health departments identified primary and secondary cases by using coronavirus disease surveillance data, case investigations, and contact tracing. A primary case was defined as SARS-CoV-2 detected <14 days after travel to or residence in Provincetown during July 3-17. A secondary case was defined as SARS-CoV-2 detected <14 days after close contact with a person who had a primary case but without travel to or residence in Provincetown during July 3-August 10. We identified 1,098 primary cases and 30 secondary cases associated with 26 primary cases among fully and non-fully vaccinated persons. Large gatherings can have widespread effects on SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and fully vaccinated persons should take precautions, such as masking, to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, particularly during substantial or high transmission.

In late January 2021, a clinical laboratory notified the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) that the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern B.1.351 had been identified in a specimen collected from a Maryland resident with COVID-19 (1). The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 lineage was first identified in South Africa (2) and might be neutralized less effectively by antibodies produced after vaccination or natural infection with other strains (3-6). To limit SARS-CoV-2 chains of transmission associated with this index patient, MDH used contact tracing to identify the source of infection and any linked infections among other persons. The investigation identified two linked clusters of SARS-CoV-2 infection that included 17 patients. Three additional specimens from these clusters were sequenced; all three had the B.1.351 variant and all sequences were closely related to the sequence from the index patient's specimen. Among the 17 patients identified, none reported recent international travel or contact with international travelers. Two patients, including the index patient, had received the first of a 2-dose COVID-19 vaccination series in the 2 weeks before their likely exposure; one additional patient had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection 5 months before exposure. Two patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, and one died. These first identified linked clusters of B.1.351 infections in the United States with no apparent link to international travel highlight the importance of expanding the scope and volume of genetic surveillance programs to identify variants, completing contact investigations for SARS-CoV-2 infections, and using universal prevention strategies, including vaccination, masking, and physical distancing, to control the spread of variants of concern., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.