Contact Tracing During The COVID-19 Pandemic In District Health Directorate Example in Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract Background: After March 2020, with the first case of novel coronavirus, Turkish health care system switched to state of emergency to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to control the pandemic, a scientific committee was established, guidelines were prepared, and filiation/contact tracing studies were started. Field investigation and isolation teams were established, and District Health Directorates (DHD) became frontline primary care organizations to manage contact tracing in Turkey. Case presentation: In this report, pandemic management and contact tracing were evaluated in example of Kartal DHD from Istanbul, Turkey. The report contains the details about the planning process, Kartal DHD Pandemic Management priorities, aim and planning of this policy, coordination and cooperation with other institutes to overcome this extraordinary state. Also, evaluation of the contact tracing and telemedicine usage in the pandemic management is examined as well with future implications. Conclusions: From the SWOT analysis to planning process, this report attempts to describe how this state of emergency was managed and how effective the contact tracing management process was. With its detailed key points of the pandemic management and future perspectives, it has been written in terms of preparation for the future pandemics.