Raising awareness of COVID risk and testing in Manchester, NH
Manchester, NHChallenge
In the spring of 2020, with COVID-19 sweeping through cities across the U.S., the city of Manchester, New Hampshire worked to develop a robust public health effort to protect its residents, including developing a targeted community testing strategy. Due to limited tests and supplies in the early response phase, the health department needed to be strategic about targeted testing, and deploying resources to areas of the city and individuals where they were needed most.
Impact
The health department utilized the COVID Local Risk Index score on the City Health Dashboard (the COVID Local Risk Index characterizes risk of COVID infection and more severe illness based on data that incorporates factors like race, household crowding, and underlying health conditions) to prioritize neighborhoods for testing sites. Residents who lived or worked in neighborhoods with higher risk were also encouraged to get COVID tests. This new data to identify COVID risk was a tremendous tool for the city to have as they began to plan for safe reopening. Residents were able to understand and use the clear and simple tool to assess their risk and get testing, if needed. It later also inspired NH DHHS to incorporate vulnerability risk and equity in the state’s vaccine allocation strategy.