Real-Time CDC Consultation during the COVID-19 Pandemic-United States, March-July, 2020.
Daniel Wozniczka, Hanna B Demeke, Angela M Thompson-Paul, Ugonna Ijeoma, Tonya R Williams, Allan W Taylor, Kathrine R Tan, Michelle S Chevalier, Elfriede Agyemang, Deborah Dowell, Titilope Oduyebo, Miriam Shiferaw, Sallyann M Coleman King, Anna A Minta, Katherine Shealy, Sara E Oliver, Catherine McLean, Maleeka Glover, John Iskander
Author Information
Daniel Wozniczka: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. ORCID
Hanna B Demeke: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. ORCID
Angela M Thompson-Paul: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. ORCID
Ugonna Ijeoma: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Tonya R Williams: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Allan W Taylor: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Kathrine R Tan: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Michelle S Chevalier: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Elfriede Agyemang: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Deborah Dowell: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Titilope Oduyebo: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Miriam Shiferaw: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Sallyann M Coleman King: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Anna A Minta: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Katherine Shealy: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Sara E Oliver: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Catherine McLean: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Maleeka Glover: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
John Iskander: Clinician On-Call Team, COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
CONTEXT: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) clinicians provided real-time telephone consultation to healthcare providers, public health practitioners, and health department personnel. OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic and public health characteristics of inquiries, trends, and correlation of inquiries with national COVID-19 case reports. We summarize the results of real-time CDC clinician consultation service provided during 11 March to 31 July 2020 to understand the impact and utility of this service by CDC for the COVID-19 pandemic emergency response and for future outbreak responses. DESIGN: Clinicians documented inquiries received including information about the call source, population for which guidance was sought, and a detailed description of the inquiry and resolution. Descriptive analyses were conducted, with a focus on characteristics of callers as well as public health and clinical content of inquiries. SETTING: Real-time telephone consultations with CDC Clinicians in Atlanta, GA. PARTICIPANTS: Health care providers and public health professionals who called CDC with COVID-19 related inquiries from throughout the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Characteristics of inquiries including topic of inquiry, inquiry population, resolution, and demographic information. RESULTS: A total of 3154 COVID-19 related telephone inquiries were answered in real-time. More than half (62.0%) of inquiries came from frontline healthcare providers and clinical sites, followed by 14.1% from state and local health departments. The majority of inquiries focused on issues involving healthcare workers (27.7%) and interpretation or application of CDC's COVID-19 guidance (44%). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a substantial number of inquiries to CDC, with the large majority originating from the frontline clinical and public health workforce. Analysis of inquiries suggests that the ongoing focus on refining COVID-19 guidance documents is warranted, which facilitates bidirectional feedback between the public, medical professionals, and public health authorities.
