 Hi, my name is Commander Tai Do, I am a Public Health Emergency Officer and Navy Physician at Navy's Medical Command Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Contact tracing is a disease control measure used by medical professionals for decades to prevent the spread of infectious disease. It is a key tool in stopping the spread of COVID-19 as well. In general, contact tracing is relatively straightforward. It involves interviewing an infected individual to identify people who may have been in close contact for a specific period of time, then notifying those individuals of possible exposure and assisting them in understanding what they need to do to keep others safe. Your unit's medical personnel may need your help to conduct contact investigations. This video will give you an overview of what contact tracing means and the basics of how it is done. Even if you don't expect to be doing contact tracing yourself, this information may be helpful to you if you find yourself becoming ill. Your ability to assist in contact tracing may be a key to eliminating an outbreak on your ship or in your unit. Since this is a new virus, we are still learning about how it behaves and how it is transmitted. So this guidance may be updated as we learn more. When a person is identified to have COVID-19, part of the effort to slow or stop the spread is called contact tracing. This involves identifying close contacts and quarantining them. Close contacts of the COVID-19 positive individuals will be notified that they have likely been exposed and will be placed into quarantine. In the Navy, we are using a more specific definition than the CDC and are counting as close contact the following. Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected individual for more than 15 minutes. This would generally include someone who has a workstation or a rack within 6 feet of the individual and would also include prolonged interaction within a relatively combined space such as the galley, gym, smoking deck, and chapel. It is not close contact if you briefly pass the individual in the passageway. Been in a general vicinity for less than 15 minutes or been in an open airspace with the individual as long as you were more than 6 feet away. An exception to this would be if someone with COVID-19 sneezes or cough in your direction and you are exposed to the respiratory droplets. So while close contact is someone who has been exposed, it doesn't mean that they are infected or contagious. Just that we are monitoring them for possible infection. In the Navy, close contacts will generally be quarantined for a period of time to ensure they are not infected. Contact tracers will also help to explain this process and help individuals understand what they must do to help keep their shipmates safe. Contact tracing involves following up with individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and is a key tool in stopping the spread of the disease. Even if you don't expect to be doing contact tracing yourself, it may be helpful to you if you find yourself becoming ill. Your ability to assist in contact tracing may be a key to limiting an outbreak on your ship or in your unit. More training is available for those who can help. Contact your medical department for details on where to find the training.