CDC Deployments to State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Health Departments for COVID-19 Emergency Public Health Response — United States, January 21–July 25, 2020
Authors: Emilio Dirlikov, Ethan Fechter-Leggett, Stacy L. Thorne, Caitlin M. Worrell, Jennifer C. Smith-Grant, Jonathan Chang, Alexandra M. Oster, Adam Bjork, Stanley Young, Alvina U. Perez, Tricia Aden, Mark Anderson, Susan Farrall, Jaime Jones-Wormley, Katherine Hendricks Walters, Tanya T. LeBlanc, Rebecca Greco Kone, David Hunter, Laura A. Cooley, Vikram Krishnasamy, Jennifer Fuld, Carolina Luna-Pinto, Tanya Williams, Ann O’Connor, Randall J. Nett, Julie Villanueva, Nadia L. Oussayef, Henry T. Walke, Jill M. Shugart, Margaret A. Honein, Dale A. Rose, Noelle Anderson, CDC; David Bang, Terrika Barham, Shaliondel Benton, Amy Blain, Mary Boyd, Bruce Bradley, Shakia Bright, Michael Bruce, Victor Cabada, Georgina Castro, Dena Cherry-Brown, Erik Coleman, Janet Cowins, Pamela Craig, Johnni Daniel, Darlene Davis, Stacy De, Naomi Drexler, Jessica Dull, Sherry Farr, Phillip Finley, Karrie Finn, Denise Freeman, Corinne Fukayama, Nicole Gaarenstroom, Micha Ghertner, Maleeka Glover, Gail Grant, Sean Griffing, DeMoncheri Harris, Diane Harris, Nikki Hayes, Seung Hee, Corey Henry, Donna Henry, Janine Hines, Amy Hudson, Kashif Iqbal, Jennifer Isenberg, Mary Jenkins, Charlotte Kabore, Sandor Karpathy, Daphne Kennebrew, Karen Kun, Ryan Lash, Rene Lavinghouze, Rachel Leavitt, Sooji Lee, Eva Leidman, Oscar Leon, Sarah Leonard, Garry Lowry, Elizabeth Lundeen, Mechele Lynch, Michon Mabry, Jana Manning, Kelsey McCall, Henraya McGruder, Sarah Merkle, Jenna Meyer, Patrick Moonan, Jazmyn Moore, Pamelian Norwood, Seseni Nu, John Oeltmann, Krishna Palipudi, Monica Parise, Ritchard Parry, Abrienne Patta, Chandra Pendergraft, Kristen Pettrone, Heidi Pfeifer, Tracy Powell, Nykiconia Preacely, Yanping Qi, Jessica Ricaldi, Regina Richardson-Moore, LaShonda Roberson, Sergio Rodriguez, Tomas Rodriguez, Andrew Ruiz, Sharon Saydah, Abdoulie Senesie, Connie Sexton, Shari Shanklin, Christopher Sieradzki, Amberia Simpson, De’Lisa Simpson, Stephanie Snodgrass, Lisa Speissegger, Alisa Spieckerman, Danielle Stollar, Nimalie Stone, Brittany Sunshine, Philana Swann, Rezwana Uddin, Diana Valencia, Chastity Walker, Malaika Washington, Seh Welch, Shawna Williams, Rebecca Woodruff, Evonne Woodson, Graydon Yatabe, Hussain Yusuf
Journal: MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2020)

Response TeamCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV-2.During January 21-July 25, 2020, in response to official requests for assistance with COVID-19 emergency public health response activities, CDC deployed 208 teams to assist 55 state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments.CDC deployment data were analyzed to summarize activities by deployed CDC teams in assisting state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments to identify and implement measures to contain SARS-CoV-2 transmission (1).Deployed teams assisted with the investigation of transmission in high-risk congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities (53 deployments; 26% of total), food processing facilities (24; 12%), correctional facilities (12; 6%), and settings that provide services to persons experiencing homelessness (10; 5%).Among the 208 deployed teams, 178 (85%) provided assistance to state health departments, 12 (6%) to tribal health departments, 10 (5%) to local health departments, and eight (4%) to territorial health departments.CDC collaborations with health departments have strengthened local capacity and provided outbreak response support.Collaborations focused attention on health equity issues among disproportionately affected populations (e.g., racial and ethnic minority populations, essential frontline workers, and persons experiencing homelessness) and through a place-based focus (e.g., persons living in rural or frontier areas).These collaborations also facilitated enhanced characterization of COVID-19 epidemiology, directly contributing to CDC data-informed guidance, including guidance for serial testing as a containment strategy in high-risk congregate settings, targeted interventions and prevention efforts among workers at food processing facilities, and social distancing.