Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Contact Tracing Program

Summary of Policy and Agency Considerations

Policy Considerations

• To enhance public trust, enact protections for citizen privacy during disease testing, contact tracing and investigations for communicable diseases. Prohibit unlawful dissemination of contact tracing data and unlawful use of surveillance technology and require privacy measures be implemented in contact tracing applications.
• As part of the state’s pandemic response plan, make available discretionary public health funds to investigate and control the spread of communicable diseases. As an example, Colorado authorized emergency repurposing of select tobacco education program funds to investigate and control the spread of COVID, to include contact tracing.
• Require the Oklahoma State Department of Health to include school and district-level data of communicable disease exposure and outbreaks in future reports, dashboards, and other publicly accessible platforms to inform the public about the level of risk within Oklahoma schools.

Agency Considerations

• The Oklahoma State Department of Health should adhere to the CDC’s recommended process and outcome metrics for effective case investigation and contact tracing.
• The Oklahoma State Department of Health should collect and incorporate the CDC’s performance metrics for case investigation and contact tracing into daily reporting.
• The Oklahoma State Department of Health should work with surrounding regional states’ respective health departments to learn best practices for collecting and publishing transparent and accessible data for the public.
• The Oklahoma State Department of Health should adhere to the best practices set by most states and make exposure and outbreak data from communicable diseases in schools publicly accessible.
• The Oklahoma State Department of Health should include representation from the Oklahoma State Department of Education in formulating and recommending future risk levels, data thresholds, and health protocols in future public health emergencies.
• The Oklahoma State Department of Health should provide a plan to the Legislature to replace PHIDDO and transition to the CDC’s NBS, or comparable system, to leverage available technologies and ensure the State has efficient technology for future public health emergencies.