Contact Tracing

Contact tracing has been used for decades by state and local health departments to slow or stop the spread of infectious disease. At CU Boulder, the Public Health Office has a team of trained case investigators and contact tracers that work in partnership with our local public health agency to support students, faculty and staff.

It is important to note that conversations with case investigators and contact tracing team members are confidential.

Questions/concerns? We are here to help!

Email the Contact Tracing team

Please do NOT send inquiries that contain protected health information or personally identifiable information.

What is a contact?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.

Examples of close contact for students:

Roommates or housemates
Intimate partners
Anyone who has been in contact within 6 feet for at least 15 minutes
Someone with whom they shared personal items such as a cup, lip balm or vape

How does contact tracing work?

Step 1: Case Investigation

Contact tracing begins when public health staff receive a notification of a positive test result. The case investigator calls that individual to discuss their positive test result and gather information about close contacts, while also providing support, referrals and answering questions. The case investigator also provides a timeline for isolation and clarifies isolation expectations. Only a case investigator can clear someone from isolation.

Step 2: Contact Tracing

Once close contacts are identified, public health staff will begin notifying people (contacts) of their potential exposure. This is done as quickly and sensitively as possible. Contact tracers call each contact to review information and provide the most appropriate quarantine guidance based on their symptom status, exposure, vaccine status and other factors. If an individual is asked to quarantine, they are given guidance about where and how long to quarantine.

Current Guidance

Fully vaccinated person
Fully vaccinated people who do not have symptoms, do not need to quarantine at home after close contact with someone who had COVID-19. Fully vaccinated people should get tested 5-7 days after the close contact, even if they have no symptoms, wear a mask for 14 days or until receiving a negative test.

Unvaccinated person
If someone is unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, we would ask that individual to quarantine and consider testing on day 5-7 after their last exposure. The length of time for the quarantine would depend on several factors and should be determined by a contact tracer.

Symptomatic person
If someone has symptoms, they should isolate and get a COVID-19 test immediately, by scheduling an appointment at Medical Services or testing at a community testing site.

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