How contact tracing could help rein in COVID-19
4 years, 8 months ago

How contact tracing could help rein in COVID-19

LA Times  

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19? The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more safely. After a person tests positive for the virus, a contact tracer would get in touch with the person and attempt to determine where they have been and who they were around. In the U.S. for example, local health departments may rely on automated texts to alert people who may have been exposed to an infected person.

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History of this topic

Head of WA's COVID-19 contact tracing reveals massive effort to gear up for state's reopening
3 years, 2 months ago

Head of WA's COVID-19 contact tracing reveals massive effort to gear up for state's reopening

ABC  

Contact tracers are gearing up ahead of Western Australia's anticipated reopening date, as more and more locations around the state are listed as potential exposure sites. Key points: Head contact tracer Ben Scalley says public servants have been recruited from all across government to join the contact tracing efforts Teams are based throughout regional WA including in the South West, …

Public urged to work with contact tracing teams over Christmas period
3 years, 3 months ago

Public urged to work with contact tracing teams over Christmas period

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy People who test positive for Covid-19 over Christmas have been …

COVID contact tracing, Health Department 'shambles' for these Victorians amid reopening
3 years, 4 months ago

COVID contact tracing, Health Department 'shambles' for these Victorians amid reopening

ABC  

David Murray attended what he believed to be a COVID-safe country music event at the Hamilton Golf Club in western Victoria on November 14, an event that has since spawned a cluster of 31 cases as of Thursday. Key points: Victorians say they've received wrong or delayed health advice from the Health Department Contact tracing fails spark fears of an …

Coronavirus Australia: Changes to NSW contact tracing as Victoria's Covid outbreak grows
3 years, 7 months ago

Coronavirus Australia: Changes to NSW contact tracing as Victoria's Covid outbreak grows

Daily Mail  

New South Wales is preparing to dump most of its contact tracing system in favour of an app that will automatically alert residents when they've been exposed to Covid. NSW is preparing to dump most of its contact tracing system in favour of an app that will alert residents when they've been exposed to the coronavirus The drastic change is …

Contact tracing in the U.S. takes a back seat during latest COVID surge
3 years, 7 months ago

Contact tracing in the U.S. takes a back seat during latest COVID surge

LA Times  

Health investigators across the U.S. are finding it nearly impossible to keep up with the deluge of new COVID-19 infections and carry out contact tracing efforts that were once seen as a pillar of the nation’s pandemic response. Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said that while contact …

Contact tracing takes a back seat during latest COVID surge
3 years, 7 months ago

Contact tracing takes a back seat during latest COVID surge

Associated Press  

Health investigators across the U.S. are finding it nearly impossible to keep up with the deluge of new COVID-19 infections and carry out contact tracing efforts that were once seen as a pillar of the nation’s pandemic response. Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said that while contact …

Now Isn't the Time to Abandon Contact Tracing
3 years, 7 months ago

Now Isn't the Time to Abandon Contact Tracing

Wired  

The rise of the Delta variant is sparking all sorts of memories—the anxiety amid the first Covid wave in spring of 2020, the crushing winter surge, the unceasing debate about “nonpharmaceutical interventions” such as masking and distancing, the concerns about kids and schools. But it hasn’t seemed to bring back discussions of contact tracing, one of the first best hopes …

Covid contact tracing to be scaled down, change in quarantine rule
3 years, 9 months ago

Covid contact tracing to be scaled down, change in quarantine rule

NL Times  

Based on advice from the Outbreak Management Team, the government will soon scale down coronavirus source and contact tracing. Last week, the OMT said that quarantine and source and contact tracing can be adjusted as more and more people are now vaccinated against Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The RIVM and health service GGD, who is …

Covid-19: Delhi makes new tracing push with revised targets
3 years, 10 months ago

Covid-19: Delhi makes new tracing push with revised targets

Hindustan Times  

With Delhi’s Covid-19 case trajectory and positivity rate falling, the state government has given district administrations fresh guidelines for home isolation, and updated their contact tracing targets in an attempt to revive the test-trace-treat system that went on the back-burner due to the unprecedented surge in infections since mid-April. On March 15, government data showed, districts traced around 32 contacts …

I've been to a place on the contact tracing list. What should I do?
4 years ago

I've been to a place on the contact tracing list. What should I do?

ABC  

Queenslanders are keeping a close eye on the growing list of contact tracing venues linked to the Greater Brisbane coronavirus outbreak. The Queensland Government provides an updated list of close contact and casual contact venues on its website. A Queensland Health spokesperson said data from the Check In Qld app had been requested and used to contact those at risk. …

Major contact tracing effort continues across Brisbane as immunologist warns unknown source of COVID infection is 'definitely a concern'
4 years ago

Major contact tracing effort continues across Brisbane as immunologist warns unknown source of COVID infection is 'definitely a concern'

ABC  

A major contact tracing effort will continue in south-east Queensland today as authorities work to determine if a new locally acquired case of COVID-19 in a Brisbane landscaper has spread further in the community. Queensland COVID-19 snapshot In latest reporting period: Deaths: 11 11 New cases: 5,698 Queensland's vaccine rollout: First dose: 93.2 per cent 93.2 per cent Second dose: …

Victoria's contact tracing system was not fit for purpose when coronavirus hit, parliamentary inquiry finds
4 years, 3 months ago

Victoria's contact tracing system was not fit for purpose when coronavirus hit, parliamentary inquiry finds

ABC  

A parliamentary inquiry has found the Victorian Government's stubborn reluctance to embrace a new contact tracing system when it was needed was a "failure" which cost lives during the state's deadly second wave. Key points: The Upper House committee says the Government's response was "crisis built and reactive" The Upper House committee says the Government's response was "crisis built and …

California’s new contact-tracing app: What you need to know
4 years, 3 months ago

California’s new contact-tracing app: What you need to know

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom has announced a voluntary smartphone app to alert people if they were in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. Called CA Notify, the app relies on a tech framework created by Apple and Google that uses Apple and Android phones’ short-range Bluetooth radios to determine when two devices have been near one another for …

For contact tracers, COVID-19 fight is personal: ‘I understand hardship’
4 years, 4 months ago

For contact tracers, COVID-19 fight is personal: ‘I understand hardship’

LA Times  

Sometimes when he calls, the person on the other end of the phone already knows. It’s people from my community.” Before data underscored how marginalized communities were disproportionately hit by the virus, which has killed at least 7,700 in Los Angeles County, Gardner knew. A contact tracer with the county Department of Public Health, he didn’t need to see the …

Virus surge places strain on Pennsylvania’s contact tracers
4 years, 4 months ago

Virus surge places strain on Pennsylvania’s contact tracers

Associated Press  

Pennsylvania’s contact tracing system is under strain as the explosion of new COVID-19 cases overtakes health workers’ ability to keep up, hampering efforts to slow the spread. Public health experts say it’s important to interview people who have tested positive for the virus as soon as possible so their “close contacts,” or the people they exposed, can be identified and …

Rising cases in Delhi worry Gautam Budh Nagar admin; testing to be scaled up
4 years, 5 months ago

Rising cases in Delhi worry Gautam Budh Nagar admin; testing to be scaled up

Hindustan Times  

NOIDA: Alarmed with the rising number of coronavirus disease cases in national capital Delhi, the administration of the Gautam Budh Nagar district has decided to increase surveillance activities and contact tracing of patients. HT Image District magistrate Suhas LY said that number of Covid cases in Delhi has always been directly proportional to the same in districts which share borders …

The five hallmarks of successful contact tracing during the coronavirus pandemic
4 years, 5 months ago

The five hallmarks of successful contact tracing during the coronavirus pandemic

ABC  

Contact tracing is the process of finding, assessing and managing the people who have been exposed to a disease, according to the World Health Organization. "One of our approaches in Australia is doing contact tracing in the first 24 hours of receiving a diagnosis, and I believe that Victoria is at 100 per cent at the moment," says Professor McLaws. …

Which countries are doing well with contact tracing for coronavirus? A look at South Korea, Singapore, China, New Zealand and Belgium
4 years, 5 months ago

Which countries are doing well with contact tracing for coronavirus? A look at South Korea, Singapore, China, New Zealand and Belgium

ABC  

Victoria's contact tracing system has been under scrutiny in recent weeks, while New South Wales has been held up as a gold standard. SARS experience helped South Korea's leap into action South Korea has just under 25,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, about 2,000 fewer than Australia, with about double the national population. "Contact tracing has the manual part to it, but …

Victoria trials new coronavirus contact tracing model that doubles number of close contacts
4 years, 5 months ago

Victoria trials new coronavirus contact tracing model that doubles number of close contacts

ABC  

Victoria has begun the "evolution" of its contact tracing regime, casting the net wider and instructing more people with a connection to a positive case to get tested and self-isolate. Key points: The health department said more than 230 people were in isolation in Kilmore, including close contacts and their close contacts The health department said more than 230 people …

What do we know about superspreader events in the pandemic?
4 years, 5 months ago

What do we know about superspreader events in the pandemic?

Associated Press  

What do we know about superspreader events in the pandemic? We’re still learning, but it seems that much of the spread of the coronavirus has been caused by what disease trackers call superspreader events. Scientists studying three months of contact tracing data from Hong Kong estimated that 19% of people infected were responsible for 80% of the spread of coronavirus …

Spam calls are hindering efforts to contact trace and track Covid-19
4 years, 5 months ago

Spam calls are hindering efforts to contact trace and track Covid-19

CNN  

CNN — Nine months into a pandemic that has killed 210,000 people in the United States, health officials are imploring residents to answer their phones. “If contact tracers do not hear back, a text message will be sent with a home visit time and date, and visits may be conducted without confirmation,” the health officials said. About 60% of contact …

Coronavirus: Minister admits not knowing how many contacts have been missed after 15,000 positive cases underreported
4 years, 5 months ago

Coronavirus: Minister admits not knowing how many contacts have been missed after 15,000 positive cases underreported

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, also demanded Matt Hancock address the Commons on Monday, …

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19?
4 years, 6 months ago

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19?

Associated Press  

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19? The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more safely. After a person tests …

Contact Tracing Questions Arise After Trump Tests Positive For The Coronavirus
4 years, 6 months ago

Contact Tracing Questions Arise After Trump Tests Positive For The Coronavirus

NPR  

Contact Tracing Questions Arise After Trump Tests Positive For The Coronavirus The President has tested positive for the coronavirus. NPR speaks to Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the school of public health at Brown University, about the implications. JHA: But it's very distressing to see the president of the United States get infected from what is a disease that …

Coronavirus: Test and Trace failing to reach almost 30% of close contacts, latest data shows
4 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus: Test and Trace failing to reach almost 30% of close contacts, latest data shows

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The government’s contact-tracing programme failed to reach almost 30 per cent …

Largest Contact Tracing Study in India Shows Covid-19 Transmitted Mainly by 'Superspreaders'
4 years, 6 months ago

Largest Contact Tracing Study in India Shows Covid-19 Transmitted Mainly by 'Superspreaders'

News 18  

The transmission of COVID-19 in India has been driven mainly by superspreaders or a small percentage of infected people, according to the largest contact tracing study in the country which also shows that children are key to the spread of the novel coronavirus. The researchers, including those from the Government of Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, found that over 70 …

Largest study of COVID-19 transmission highlights essential role of super-spreaders
4 years, 6 months ago

Largest study of COVID-19 transmission highlights essential role of super-spreaders

LA Times  

In the bleak ranking of worst COVID-19 outbreaks, the United States, with 7.2 million infections, is likely to be eclipsed only by India, which has 1 million fewer cases but is catching up fast. Yet parts of India have led the world in one aspect of the pandemic response: contact tracing — the labor-intensive, time-sensitive, painstaking work of identifying people …

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with covid-19?
4 years, 6 months ago

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with covid-19?

Live Mint  

The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more safely. After a person tests positive for the virus, a contact tracer would get in touch …

Coronavirus: NHS app will carry out contact-tracing, government admits - hours after saying it would not
4 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus: NHS app will carry out contact-tracing, government admits - hours after saying it would not

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy No 10 has been left red-faced after wrongly saying the long-delayed …

Why Contact-Tracing Apps Haven’t Slowed Covid-19 in the US
4 years, 6 months ago

Why Contact-Tracing Apps Haven’t Slowed Covid-19 in the US

Wired  

As Covid-19 spread across the United States this spring, Jodie Pond, the health director in Teton County, Wyoming, looked forward to deploying a new weapon against the pandemic. A smartphone app would help her small team of contact tracers find people exposed to the virus more quickly. So in July, when Covid-19 cases in the county spiked, Pond’s small department …

COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Scams: 4 Signs That Call, Email Or Text Is A Fake
4 years, 7 months ago

COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Scams: 4 Signs That Call, Email Or Text Is A Fake

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING A crucial tool for controlling the spread of the coronavirus is contact tracing ― tracking down people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and encouraging them to quarantine. According to the Federal Trade Commission, contact tracing is the “process of identifying people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, instructing …

Contact Tracing Apps May Be Ineffective in Reducing Covid-19 Spread: Study
4 years, 7 months ago

Contact Tracing Apps May Be Ineffective in Reducing Covid-19 Spread: Study

News 18  

Contact tracing apps are unlikely to contain the spread of COVID-19 without proper public health control measures such as physical distancing and closure of indoor spaces, according to a review of studies. "Across a number of modelling studies, we found a consistent picture that although automated contact tracing could support manual contact tracing, the systems will require large-scale uptake by …

NHS contact tracing app 'is unlikely to reduce the spread of Covid-19'
4 years, 7 months ago

NHS contact tracing app 'is unlikely to reduce the spread of Covid-19'

Daily Mail  

The new NHS Test and Trace app won't work unless the vast majority of the country installs it and even then social distancing will still be required, a new study claims. This week, they have started trialling the 'NHS Covid-19' contact-tracing app, after a series of delays in the development process Researchers say that 'automatic and semi-automated' contact tracing apps …

Local knowledge vital to contact tracing success in fight against coronavirus
4 years, 7 months ago

Local knowledge vital to contact tracing success in fight against coronavirus

ABC  

When coronavirus hit the rural community of Colac in south-west Victoria it took everybody by surprise, including authorities who were reportedly slow to respond and contain it. Key points: A testing blitz is underway in regional Victoria after a concerning number of 'mystery cases' have been reported Local contact tracing teams have been set up in Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat …

Mandatory quarantine for Covid-19 patient's close contacts
4 years, 7 months ago

Mandatory quarantine for Covid-19 patient's close contacts

NL Times  

The government is implementing mandatory quarantine for people who had close contact with a Covid-19 patient, even if they themselves have not yet tested positive for the coronavirus, Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health said to parliament. "In recent weeks we have heard from the GGDs that people are not cooperating properly with the source and contact investigation," De …

Coronavirus: National NHS Test and Trace system to reduce contact tracers by 6,000 as local authorities handed more control
4 years, 7 months ago

Coronavirus: National NHS Test and Trace system to reduce contact tracers by 6,000 as local authorities handed more control

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. On Monday, DHSC announced the NHS Test and Trace programme will now provide local authorities …

Top WHO official warns life can carry on on if Covid-19 test and trace works better
4 years, 7 months ago

Top WHO official warns life can carry on on if Covid-19 test and trace works better

Daily Mail  

The world must 'learn to live' with the coronavirus, a top World Health Organization official insisted today. Dr Nabarro's sobering comments come after a major study said British children returning to school in September will trigger a devastating second wave of Covid-19 — unless the test and trace scheme improves. Experts found that, to prevent a second wave when schools …

Ministers admit struggling Covid contact tracing system MUST improve
4 years, 7 months ago

Ministers admit struggling Covid contact tracing system MUST improve

Daily Mail  

Ministers today admitted the struggling coronavirus contact tracing system must improve - but insisted schools will reopen in September despite fears of a catastrophic second peak. To prevent a second wave when schools reopen, the NHS contact tracing system must reach 68 per cent of cases and their contacts, according to researchers from University College London and the London School …

As COVID-19 cases surge, L.A. librarians join the ranks of contact tracers
4 years, 8 months ago

As COVID-19 cases surge, L.A. librarians join the ranks of contact tracers

LA Times  

Denice Nossett is one of dozens of librarians and library staff in the Los Angeles Public Library system who have stepped up to do contact tracing work. “The reason I volunteered for contact tracing is that it’s really the same thing” as being a librarian, Leyva said. “It’s still helping people, it’s helping my community, it’s trying to get my …

Coronavirus contact tracing shows COVID-19 problems in Victoria, NSW and Queensland
4 years, 8 months ago

Coronavirus contact tracing shows COVID-19 problems in Victoria, NSW and Queensland

ABC  

It seems every time daily case numbers appear to drop, it's not long before Melburnians get stung by a dramatic new number. A single day doesn't tell us much about the state's trajectory, but over the past week Victoria has averaged more than 400 new infections every day. But those cases relate to infections first found days ago, so it …

As cases rise, resources run short, states reduce contact tracing
4 years, 8 months ago

As cases rise, resources run short, states reduce contact tracing

Live Mint  

India’s covid-19 case load has crossed 1.4 million, but a vital tool to contain transmission has been all but abandoned by many states. As the case load rose, and states faced staff and resource crunches, contact tracing became a casualty. An ICMR study said the rate of infection among contacts was high in many states but their contact tracing was …

Victorian coronavirus cases who don't answer their phone to contact tracers will soon get a visit from the ADF
4 years, 8 months ago

Victorian coronavirus cases who don't answer their phone to contact tracers will soon get a visit from the ADF

ABC  

Melburnians have been getting used to seeing Australian Defence Force personnel in uniform patrolling the streets, after the state called in 1,400 reinforcements to get on top of the spike in new coronavirus cases. Premier Daniel Andrews said: "That's not something to be afraid of, that's just everyone working together as one team to make sure that we've got the …

Contact tracing falters in Barcelona amid virus spike
4 years, 8 months ago

Contact tracing falters in Barcelona amid virus spike

Associated Press  

BARCELONA, Spain — When Sonia Ramírez was told by her local clinic that she had tested positive for the coronavirus, she expected to be asked about anyone she had come in close contact with recently. “They didn’t even ask if I had been to work recently, which of course I had.” With the virus rebounding in parts of Spain, it …

Coronavirus: Government’s test and trace system failing in areas battling major outbreaks, leaked analysis reveals
4 years, 8 months ago

Coronavirus: Government’s test and trace system failing in areas battling major outbreaks, leaked analysis reveals

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Leaked analysis obtained by The Independent shows that across northwest England, the national tracing service …

Conspiracy theories debunked: Here’s what COVID contact tracers really do
4 years, 8 months ago

Conspiracy theories debunked: Here’s what COVID contact tracers really do

Salon  

In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, contact tracing is downright buzzy, and not always in a good way. Misinformation abounds, from tales that people who talk to contact tracers will be sent to nonexistent "FEMA camps" — a rumor so prevalent that health officials in Washington state had to put out a statement in May debunking it — to …

Quick testing is needed for coronavirus contact tracing to be most effective, research finds
4 years, 8 months ago

Quick testing is needed for coronavirus contact tracing to be most effective, research finds

CNN  

CNN — Quick testing and quick reporting of results are needed for contact tracing to be as effective as it can be, new research finds. “In our model, minimizing testing delays had the largest impact on reducing transmission of the virus and testing infrastructure is therefore the most critical factor for the success of a contact tracing system,” Marc Bonten, …

Coronavirus Outbreak: What is contact tracing? How does it help in curbing COVID-19 cases?
4 years, 8 months ago

Coronavirus Outbreak: What is contact tracing? How does it help in curbing COVID-19 cases?

Firstpost  

The focus of contact tracing is to find close contacts or people who were within two metres of the infected person for at least 10 minutes or so. The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus and prevent them from spreading it to others. The focus is on close …

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19?
4 years, 8 months ago

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19?

Associated Press  

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19? The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more safely. After a person tests …

Conspiracy Theories Aside, Here's What Contact Tracers Really Do
4 years, 8 months ago

Conspiracy Theories Aside, Here's What Contact Tracers Really Do

NPR  

Conspiracy Theories Aside, Here's What Contact Tracers Really Do Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Norman/KHN Hannah Norman/KHN In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing is downright buzzy, and not always in a good way. Misinformation abounds, from tales that people who talk to contact tracers will be sent to nonexistent "FEMA camps" — a rumor so prevalent …

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