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If you’re sheltering at home and looking for something to do with all that free time, university researchers would love your help with a new survey that aims to trace the spread of coronavirus in Hawaii.

The at the University of Hawaii has put together a brief survey that seeks to help identify possible cases of the disease in the community and where they have occurred.

The 10-minute survey asks a dozen or so questions about your recent activities and whether you know — or don’t know — if you’ve been in the presence of someone who has tested positive. It doesn’t ask your name, but does want the cross streets near where you live.

“Due to Hawaii’s remote location and shortage of available testing, we are asking the entire state to come together, share information, and help our team to identify where the disease may have spread in our community,” Karl Kim, executive director of the NDPTC, said in a news release. “This is something easy that we can all do – each and every one of us – to fight back against COVID-19 here in Hawaii.”

Contact tracing is a process used to understand how an infectious disease is spreading in a community and has two purposes: to figure out who a sick person caught an illness from, and to find out who they’ve been in contact with while infectious, the press release said.

Researchers say it’s important that Hawaii residents provide information now so that they can track how the virus is spreading. As it becomes more widespread, it may become more difficult to figure out where each infected person came into contact with the virus, they say.

. All responses will be kept strictly confidential.

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