Company designs COVID-19 calculator to help contact tracers determine quarantine length

A new and easy-to-use COVID-19 tool that allows contact tracers to calculate exactly how long someone should quarantine or isolate has been designed for a training course.

The calculator, designed for a free Johns Hopkins Universitytraining course, helps contact tracers recommend guidance for people who’ve been exposed to or infected with the coronavirus.

The calculator was previously available online for anyone to access, but now it can be found only in the training course.It was developed by Tank Design. It’s unclear why the calculator’s public website was removed.

Here’s how it works:

• It first asks users whether they need to isolate or quarantine. There is a difference. Isolation is the term used when a person infected with COVID-19 is separated from others. Quarantine describes a person who separates themselves after they’re exposed to someone with the virus.

• Next, users input the date symptoms began or developed, or when they were last exposed to a person who had symptoms.

• Then the calculator provides a timeline for when the person was first contagious, when symptoms began and what day isolation or quarantine can end — if symptoms have improved or no fever has existed for three days.

• The tool also shows users the information contact tracers will need to track the virus.

Andrew Smiles, creative director at Tank Design, told McClatchy News in a statement it was important the project teams quickly produce the calculator tool.

“This we did without exception,” Smiles said. “The work speaks for itself and our clients quote, ‘This will save many lives,’ validates our commitment to such an important initiative.“

This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Company designs COVID-19 calculator to help contact tracers determine quarantine length."