Contact tracing is a core disease control measure employed by health department personnel for decades, and is a key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In The Bahamas, the Ministry of Health’s Communicable Surveillance Unit is key to the fight against the coronavirus.
“The hardworking staff of this unit are important front line workers in keeping all of us safe,” said Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands.
“The surveillance unit provides valuable information and helps to inform the government on what decisions should be made to halt the further spread of coronavirus. Contact tracing has provided a number of benefits – patients are able to receive care if they’re detected early; contacts could be transferred to a treatment center so an infected person is taken out of the community and isolated so as not to aid further COVID-19 spread; or prevent the extension of the pandemic.”
During a COVID-19 briefing, Sands said it is the unit responsible for collecting and evaluating health information to control the spread of communicable diseases in the country.
“It responds to disease outbreaks. It gives healthcare facilities a description of communicable disease symptoms, and the protocols to follow. It informs healthcare providers and the public of infectious diseases that could affect or are currently circulating in the country, and it works with private and public clinics, and other stakeholders to identify cases. This unit leads our contact tracing efforts.”
The health minister said contact tracing is a fundamental public health tool that can break the chain of transmission and decrease the spread of an infectious disease. And that on average, there can be 10 to 20 contacts from one infected person.
The Bahamas had 80 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths and 792 people in quarantine as of yesterday. Worldwide there were 2,934,141 confirmed cases and 205,142 deaths.
Sands said the surveillance unit uses a three-step process to find potentially exposed people – contact identification, contact listing and contact follow-up
“During the contact identification process, once a case is confirmed positive for COVID-19, staff members speak intimately with the person to determine what activities he or she was involved in and the people he or she came into contact with around the time that the illness began. The contacts given for such a case usually include family members, workmates, friends or healthcare providers.”
During the contact listing process, he said, all contacts noted are listed with information on how to reach them.
“These people are informed that they were exposed to the coronavirus, they are provided with information about the necessary steps to take to avoid potentially exposing others – such as quarantine.”
During contact follow-up, he said, the process requires once to twice daily monitoring for symptoms, and potentially to test for infection.
“Contacts of COVID-19 are monitored for up to 14 days to determine if there are signs of illness developing such as a fever, a dry cough or shortness of breath. Once symptoms develop that meet the case definition, these persons are immediately referred for COVID-19 testing. If they are found positive, then they are also questioned about their contacts, and the cycle on contact tracing begins again.”
Sands said people who have been exposed to the virus are required by health officials to limit their contact with others to prevent spread. This, he said, can be done by quarantine or by isolation.
Quarantine is used to separate and restrict movement of people who are well, but may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
“Quarantine in this instance is usually for a period of 14 days from the exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case. During this time, the person is monitored to see if he or she experiences flu-like symptoms.”
He said people may be required to self-quarantine if they visited an area or country where community infection is present, or if they were in close contact with a COVID-19 patient. Self-quarantine takes place at home and lasts for up to 14 days. If a person starts to feel sick during self-quarantine, that individual should contact his or her healthcare provider or the COVID-19 hotline. People in mandatory quarantine are placed in a designated quarantine facility and are monitored daily by healthcare providers. This allows for monitoring for the development of symptoms, and early detection of a case. This, too, is usually for a period of 14 days.
The health minister said isolation differs from quarantine, because in that a person who is ill or infected needs to be separated from others to prevent the further spread of infection.
People with mild flu-like symptoms such as low-grade fever, dry cough, fatigue, runny nose and sore throat, he said, may be isolated at home. But they must remain in a separate room away from the rest of the household. If more moderate or severe symptoms develop, such as shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, he said hospitalization in an isolated room at the South Beach Centre or Doctors Hospital West facility in New Providence, or a similar facility on Grand Bahama, is required.
Sands said people who have received recommendations to quarantine or isolate are strongly advised to remain at home until the prescribed time has ended since they, as a quarantined or isolated contact, have been exposed and have the potential to spread the virus, shed the virus and infect others and accelerate the spread of this disease in The Bahamas.
Contacts who have had close association with a positive COVID-19 case, he said, are considered to be at high risk of infection if they share a bed, if they slept in the same room for one or more nights, if they live in the household and share the same enclosed living space for one night or extended periods of time, or if they are a healthcare worker who provided direct care without using personal protective equipment.
Moderate to low-risk people are those who travel in close proximity to a COVID-19 patient and who were in a social situation with no physical contact or close proximity to the case.
Sands said people in quarantine and isolation should request a family member to complete shopping for essential items. And if the person lives outside the home, they should be asked to leave groceries and other items at the door and to leave. If a person is receiving assistance from a family member at home, he said, they should ask the person assisting to leave their food outside the door and not enter the room you occupy.
“Following this simple advice is paramount to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our communities,” said Sands.
The post Contact tracing benefits in COVID-19 battle appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/27/contact-tracing-benefits-in-covid-19-battle/
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