[Johns Hopkins University] COVID-19 Contact Tracing

In this introductory course, you will learn about how contact tracing is done, including how to build rapport with cases, identify their contacts, and support both cases and their contacts to stop transmission in their communities.

The course will also cover several important ethical considerations around contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. Finally, the course will identify some of the most common barriers to contact tracing efforts — along with strategies to overcome them.

Special Promotion: Enroll for Free!
Created by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health and courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies, this online course on COVID-19 contact tracing includes a certificate and the fee is waived.

With an unprecedented need for contact tracing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, this is a good beginner's course to pick up the key skills needed for contact tracing jobs that have opened up around the world.

This is a good beginner's course to pick up the key skills needed for contact tracing jobs that have opened up around the world.

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Course Duration

Approx. 5 hours to complete, flexible deadlines

Course Content

Basics of COVID-19
n this first module, we'll dig into the science of COVID-19, including what we know about its origins, clinical signs and symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, transmission, and infectious period.

Basics of Contact Tracing for COVID-19
Next, we'll turn our attention to some of the tools being used to stop the spread: contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. We'll also show you how what you've already learned about infection and transmission informs the use of these critical public health tools.

Steps to Investigate Cases and Trace Their Contacts
In this module, we'll walk through the steps of the contact tracing process and provide examples. You'll also get to watch demonstrations of basic interactions with a case and and a contact.

Ethics of Contact Tracing and Technological Tools
In this module, you'll learn about the important ethical dimensions of contract tracing, including how we balance the protection of the public's health with limits on personal privacy and autonomy. We'll walk through some specific examples to prepare you for some of the issues contact tracers encounter during the course of their work.

Skills for Effective Communication
In this module, you'll watch and read several example interactions that demonstrate both how and how not to conduct yourself as a contact tracer.