COVID-19 Contact Tracing

Contact tracers work with people who have COVID-19 to let their close contacts know they may have been exposed to the disease.

Making a choice to work with contact tracers helps protect you, your family and your community by slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Contact tracers will never ask for your social security number, bank information or credit card number.

If you test positive for COVID-19, a contact tracer from your local health department will contact you by phone, email or text message.
The contact tracer will check-in on your health, discuss with whom you’ve been in close contact and ask you to stay at home to self-isolate.
The contact tracer then contacts the people with whom you had close contact to ask if they have symptoms and offer guidance about testing and quarantine.
Unless you give permission, your name will not be given to those you identify as close contacts.
It’s important to be forthcoming with the contact tracer as the information is vital to stopping the spread of disease.

The Houston Health Department partnered with Qualtrics on secure web-based surveys to aid in the contact tracing process.
If you tested positive for COVID-19, you may receive a health assessment survey that asks about your health and with whom you had close contact.
You will then receive follow-up wellness check surveys.
Meanwhile, the people you identified as close contact may receive a survey asking about their health and providing guidance about testing and quarantining.
Links to surveys will come via email or text message and include a phone number you can call if you have questions or concerns.

As a follow up to an initial call, a contact tracer from the Houston Health Department (HHD) may call or text you from their HHD mobile phone, which could be from many different phone numbers.
Automated text messages from Houston Health Department contact tracers will come from 35134, 73940 or 39242.
Contact tracing automated email assessments from the Houston Health Department will come from houstonhealthdepartment@qualtrics-survey.com.
If you receive a call, text or email regarding contact tracing and you are unsure if it’s legitimate, please call the Houston Health Department COVID-19 Call Center at 832-393-4220.
Contact tracers will never ask for your social security number, bank information or credit card number.
Information gathered during the contact tracing process is not used for any other purpose.