Contact Tracing Details For Maryland – Recent High Risk Activities And Professions Of Those Testing Positive Last Week

There is a really interesting dashboard on the Maryland Covid page which details the contact tracing information for those that tested positive over the last week (and a separate cumulative chart).

This includes where they are employed, what high risk locations they were exposed to, and what types of large gatherings they attended over the past 2 weeks.

The full site is here and the data is updated every Wednesday (data ending previous Saturday): https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/contact-tracing

Note: This does not mean it is where the person got sick, its simply information about their activities over the previous 2 weeks.

Employment

Only 30% went to work which I believe means in a physical locations.

For employment types (of those who went to work last 2 weeks), the top 3 were:

1. Healthcare
2. Other non-public facing
3. Then other public facing.

Analysis: It’s interesting that Non Public facing comes in above (if barely) Public facing. This perhaps could be an indication of those in public facing positions being more wary, or could be related to the time period each is exposed to others.

High Risk Locations

A massive 46% of people testing positive visited at least one high risk location over prior 2 weeks.

The top 3 high risk locations visited by those who went to one or more high risk locations:

1. Work outside the home
2. Indoor Retail/Shopping
3. Indoor Dining at Restaurant / Bar

Analysis: Assuming work involves indoors (which isn’t always the case), the top 3 are unsurprisingly all indoor locations. However, it is interesting to note that Outdoor Dining at Restaurant / Bar is in fourth and is not very far behind Indoor on this list. This makes sense as eating is one of the few activities on the list that requires removing your mask.

Large Gatherings

Only 15% of those testing positive attended at least one gathering of more than 10 people. This makes it seem like this could be a smaller contributor or just something people do less regularly these days.

The top 3 social gathers of 10+ people attended by those testing positive over previous 2 weeks:

• Family Gatherings
• Religious Services
• Outdoor Event

Analysis: Family gatherings and religious services are both places where familiarity can make people feel safe. Outdoor events also can be a false sense of safety if not following other guidance (masks, distancing). Once again this may just be a measure of the occurrence of these types of events but its clear that many attended large gatherings and parties.

What sort of things do you find interesting in this data? Let us know in the comments.