COVID-19 surveillance
COVID-19 surveillance is a way for grown-ups to keep track of how many people are getting sick with the germs that cause the owie sickness we call COVID-19.
Just like when you get a cold and your mommy or daddy takes your temperature and asks if you have a cough or runny nose, grown-ups are doing the same thing but with lots and lots of people all over the world. They want to know how many people are getting sick and where they live so they can make sure everyone stays as healthy as possible.
Some places are doing this by testing people who feel sick or who might have been around someone who is sick. They use something called a “swab” to collect a little bit of snot from a person's nose or throat. Then they test that snot to see if the germs that cause COVID-19 are in it.
Other places are using something called “contact tracing” to keep track of who has been around people who are sick. This means they ask everyone who has the sickness who they have been around recently, and then they reach out to those people to see if they are sick too.
All of this information helps grown-ups make important decisions about how to keep everyone healthy and safe. It’s like a big puzzle and each piece of information helps put the puzzle together so they can figure out what to do next.
Just like when you get a cold and your mommy or daddy takes your temperature and asks if you have a cough or runny nose, grown-ups are doing the same thing but with lots and lots of people all over the world. They want to know how many people are getting sick and where they live so they can make sure everyone stays as healthy as possible.
Some places are doing this by testing people who feel sick or who might have been around someone who is sick. They use something called a “swab” to collect a little bit of snot from a person's nose or throat. Then they test that snot to see if the germs that cause COVID-19 are in it.
Other places are using something called “contact tracing” to keep track of who has been around people who are sick. This means they ask everyone who has the sickness who they have been around recently, and then they reach out to those people to see if they are sick too.
All of this information helps grown-ups make important decisions about how to keep everyone healthy and safe. It’s like a big puzzle and each piece of information helps put the puzzle together so they can figure out what to do next.