{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,2]],"date-time":"2026-11-02T21:53:25Z","timestamp":1793656405164,"version":"4.5.1"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770163200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Public Health Rep"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To help people with COVID-19 and their contacts quickly understand guidelines to prevent transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed an interactive calculator that indicated whether and how long to stay home, get tested, wear face masks, and adopt other precautions. The CDC COVID-19 Calculator used a web-based chatbot format that mimicked a 2-person conversation. The calculator had the following design specifications: (1) reach an audience of people with COVID-19 (who tested positive or were symptomatic for COVID-19) and their close contacts and (2) provide an answer to the question \u201cWhen can I leave home?\u201d in less than 1 minute. To measure the use of the calculator, we analyzed the number of anonymous unique visitors and median visit time. The calculator had approximately 13.6 million visitors by March 1, 2024. The median visit time was 38 seconds, and approximately 65% of visits were via smartphones. The millions of unique visitors to the CDC COVID-19 Calculator demonstrated the usefulness of a conversational chatbot format to provide public health guidance. Future research should assess whether such tools influence behavior.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/00333549251414090","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T08:09:15Z","timestamp":1770192555000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Simplifying Public Health Recommendations: Use of a Public CDC Chatbot During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2022-2024"],"prefix":"10.1177","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0631-6992","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fran\u00e7ois M.","family":"Castonguay","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Modeling Support Team, Contact Tracing and Innovation Section, State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Task Force, CDC COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Health Management, Evaluation, and Policy, University of Montreal School of Public Health, Montr\u00e9al, QC, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6338-6233","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Melissa H.","family":"Boyette","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Modeling Support Team, Contact Tracing and Innovation Section, State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Task Force, CDC COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"},{"name":"Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dolly","family":"Katz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Modeling Support Team, Contact Tracing and Innovation Section, State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Task Force, CDC COVID-19 Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tou Fong","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Digital Media, Office of Communications, Immediate Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"McDaniel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Digital Media, Office of Communications, Immediate Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Palak","family":"Patel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Digital Media, Office of Communications, Immediate Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"W. 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