Importance of Contact Tracing in the COVID-19 pandemic

 

 

Importance of Contact Tracing in the COVID-19 pandemic

By: Srijan Agarwal 

 

 

Ever heard of COVID? Yes? Thought so. Then how about contact tracing? Pretty sure, yes. But most people don’t know the process of it and the hard work required. Well, suppose if Person A went to a grocery store and met a COVID positive Person B. Then, Person A continued shopping and went past Persons C, D, E, F, G, H, and so on. When Person A started to feel ill and developed symptoms, he went for testing which resulted in being COVID positive. Let’s pretend all the other people are asymptomatic, but they can still spread the disease. The medical agencies now must track down all those individuals and those who met them and so on to break the chain. Would anybody be willing to do such a boring and time-taking job? No, but it is important to do it, that all the other vulnerable people stay safe and sound. 

 

According to San Diego NBC, “People are considered high-risk of contracting the virus if they were within six feet of a positive person for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period…” This makes tracing the people who are exposed a little bit easier. If people are standing in a line somewhere, chances are that they waited for at least 15 minutes and were very close to people while maintaining the single-file order. If we compare this situation to browsing around a store, it is definitely more helpful to trace the people who were standing in a line.  

 

If someone attended a celebration or party while positive, the situation is worse. Not only was he/she was there for more than fifteen minutes but there were a lot of people who got infected. And, that’s why many medical agencies have always recommended quarantine after attending a public gathering or a crowded area. 

 

Recently, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the COVID-19 Booster shots for all who are above the age of 12. Vaccinations have been going on since the beginning of 2021, but there are a whole lot of people who still haven’t gotten the shots. William Tseng, M.D. says, “Vaccinations narrow the time people can transmit the virus, thus cutting down the number of people exposed.” This is yet another evidence that vaccinations help people and the surrounding community. So, people will be at a minimal risk from getting COVID if exposed to a positive individual. This also helps the medical agencies trace down vulnerable people.