Health Officials Hope Symptom Tracker Tool Will Help Predict, Prevent Future Coronavirus Outbreaks

WINDSOR, Colo. (CBS4) – The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has launched an online survey which they hope will help the state better track and prevent coronavirus. The "symptom tracker" is a voluntary online survey which provides the state information on what regions are experiencing higher levels of coronavirus symptoms.

"We are very excited to launch the symptom tracker," said Alicia Cronquist, Epidemiologist for the CDPHE. "One of the things we think it will help us with is giving us early warning signals to identify further clusters of illness that need further following."

Cronquist said residents who voluntarily take the survey could help the state better understand the progression of the virus, and potentially get ahead of it.

"(The survey) will help us to identify potential clusters of illness, and control the outbreak sooner," Cronquist said. "One important feature of COVID response is quickly identifying people who are ill, and we can identify people they have been in contact with and follow up with them."

Several Colorado counties already have similar surveys, that information is now being shared.

"The state, and local, health departments have worked very closely together to design and develop symptom tracker," Cronquist said.

Most questions on the survey simply ask for symptoms, or lack thereof, from residents.

"We'll ask some other information, perhaps what setting a person may work in or live in as a way of targeting folks who may be at higher risk," Cronquist said. "We look at it as another one of our tools in our tool bag to fight COVID-19."

Several other states have similar programs running.

LINK: Colorado COVID-19 Survey