Public health and medical research experts in the Seattle area have come together to form the Greater Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) to support efforts to control coronavirus by providing public health leaders in the area with information about how the virus is spreading in the community.
SCAN is a partnership between Public Health—Seattle & King County and the team behind the Seattle Flu Study, which has transitioned to provide its research and data modeling expertise to SCAN. The Seattle Flu Study has put most of its seasonal flu research on hold to support Seattle and King County’s public health response to the coronavirus outbreak.
SCAN has been developed in partnership with the Brotman Baty Institute, a collaboration between University of Washington Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Seattle Children’s Hospital. SCAN relies on data modeling support from the Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM).
To track the spread of COVID-19, SCAN will collect nasal swabs from a sample of people across Seattle and King County, working to mirror the area’s population as closely as possible. It will collect swabs from both those who are healthy and those who feel sick and will also test de-identified clinical residual samples (these are left-over samples from tests performed for other reasons at clinical laboratories). SCAN says the results of these tests will help it understand the outbreak more completely and, along with other data sources, help inform public health decisions.
The effort is funded by Gates Ventures (the private office of Bill Gates) and receives technical guidance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other public health authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta) is providing in-person technical assistance to help launch SCAN. Amazon Care provides infrastructure and logistics capability for this effort in the greater Seattle area, along with other delivery partners.
People in the greater Seattle/King County area can sign up for SCAN via the SCAN website. Here’s how it works:
• Answer a few questions, and request a kit via a survey.
• SCAN will send swab kits to those it can, prioritizing those needed to get the most accurate and complete view possible of what’s happening in our region.
• Use the kit to complete a home nasal swab and follow directions to return it to their labs.
• If your swab results indicate you may have coronavirus, you will be contacted by a healthcare worker on behalf of public health. If your swab results show you likely do not have coronavirus, a letter with your result will be mailed to the address where we delivered the swab kit.
Everyone who takes part in this effort will help public health leaders understand how COVID-19 is spreading in the greater Seattle/King County area. Participation is not a replacement for medical care, however. Those who do not feel well or suspect they might have COVID-19 should stay home, contact their healthcare provider, and follow public health guidance.
Anyone in the Greater Seattle/King County area may be eligible to contribute a nasal swab to SCAN, including children. For children under the age of 18, SCAN requires a parent or legal guardian to complete the sign-up and permissions process on their behalf.
