![]() Effective contact tracing has been an essential component for successful coronavirus responses in other countries, including in China, South Korea, Singapore, and Germany. Once social distancing measures have had the effect of turning the tide on local epidemics, contact tracing can then be used to identify and interrupt ongoing transmission chains and allow public health authorities to understand the extent of spread in a community. And, despite being mostly ignored in politicians’ press conferences to date, contact tracing is going to be a crucial piece of the puzzle for eventually suppressing and containing the virus, allowing people to congregate in public, and letting people go back to work again. It is a key component of infectious disease control and response. In three recent White House Coronavirus Task Force Press conferences, for example, the needs around testing, hospitals, and supplies such as masks and ventilators were mentioned dozens of times, while contact tracing was mentioned just once, in passing.Ĭontact tracing is the process of identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to a contagious disease to prevent onward transmission. However, the fourth point – contact tracing – has been emphasized much less. The first three points on the list above are immediate needs and have been front and center in debates around COVID-19 response, from the White House daily press conferences to governors’ and Mayors’ discussions of the needs in their states and cities. Scaling up contact tracing and quarantining of close contacts of known COVID-19 cases.Increasing the availability and improving the distribution of necessary supplies, including personal protective equipment and ventilators and.Growing the number of available hospital and intensive care beds.Greatly scaling up diagnostic testing capacity to identify cases. ![]() Think tank reports, many articles, and numerous op-eds from experts have all converged around putting certain key elements in place, such as: needs to build up and apply in order for communities to successfully combat COVID-19 and transition from our current social distancing/sheltering-in-place moment to something resembling normal daily life. There is a consensus forming among public health experts about the kinds of capabilities that the U.S.
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