CHICAGO, May 18, 2020 — Contact tracing is a proven public health strategy that slows the spread of disease by alerting close contacts of infected people who may have been exposed. The State of Delaware has chosen NORC at the University of Chicago as its contact tracing partner. It’s part of their expanded statewide efforts to contain COVID-19, limit Delawareans’ exposure to the disease, and restart Delaware’s economy. NORC will deploy its data collection and public health expertise to identify and notify contacts of Delawareans who have tested positive for COVID-19.

“We are proud to be part of Delaware’s solution for COVID contact tracing during this critical time in the state’s history,” said David Cotton, PhD, NORC’s project director for this effort. “We bring to bear decades of experience with high-volume, scientifically rigorous data collection and public health expertise to help Delaware stem the tide of new infections.”

Delaware Governor John Carney announced the partnership by press release on May 12, 2020, and said a robust contact tracing effort is critical to safely reopening the state’s economy. NORC will work with the state to configure call center technology and hire and train approximately 200 Delawareans to work as contact tracers. Positions will be posted at careers.norc.org/en-us/listing in the coming weeks.

NORC recently partnered with the State of Maryland to quadruple the state’s contact tracing capabilities, enough to conduct as many as 11,000 calls per day. As neighboring states, Delaware and Maryland will be able to efficiently share information to more effectively monitor COVID-19’s spread across state lines.