[Evaluation of the Robert Koch Institute's missions for COVID-19 outbreak investigations by local and state health authorities in Germany].

Abstract

Background: Under the German Infection Protection Act, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) can support local health authorities (LHAs) and state health authorities (SHAs) in outbreak investigations after an administrative request for assistance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, about 50 RKI teams supported LHAs and SHAs in outbreak investigations (virtually or on site). Reasons for or against requesting assistance as well as the assessment of outbreak deployments that have taken place should be collected and analysed.

Methods: Between 9 March 2023 and 12 May 2023, the RKI provided all LHAs (n = 376) and SHAs (n = 10) with a link to an online survey that included questions about whether, how often, and why or why not an RKI field team was requested. If a deployment took place, we asked for an assessment of the usefulness and timeliness of the deployment, their satisfaction with it and the work load involved.

Results: A total of 146 authorities (136 LHAs and 10 SHAs) responded; 21 (14%) requested an RKI team at least once and gave feedback on 22 deployments. Common reasons for not requesting were no need (60%, 56/94) and no experience with (31%, 29/34) or knowledge of the assistance request process (29%, 27/94). The 22 deployments took place between February 2020 and September 2021. The reasons for requesting assistance were lack of professional expertise (n = 18), personnel resources (n = 13) or political/public pressure (n = 12). The biggest benefit of the RKI deployments was answering epidemiological questions (n = 18). The SHAs and LHAs were satisfied with 20 of the deployments and the RKI team arrived on time for 19. The additional workload for the requesting authorities was judged to be reasonable.

Discussion: LHAs and SHAs rated the RKI deployments positively. Regarding the assistance request processes, there was a need for information that should be covered by training and provision of information material.