Why early contact tracing is key to stopping next coronavirus wave | Opinion – Commercial Appeal

Dr. Manoj Jain

April 29, 2021

If we are to get ahead of the virus, we need to respond rapidly for testing and tracing. Hundreds of COVID-19 infections per day are a public health emergency.

While we may want to think that the pandemic is behind us, our recent experience tells us that this is not the case. Michigan, Brazil and India are examples of what can happen in Memphis, if we prematurely declare victory.

Early tracing provides a solution
Early tracing is much like treating each positive case like an emergency. Responding in a rapid manner can stall or prevent the next surge of infections due to mutant strains that threaten Shelby County. Here is how early tracing works.

Let’s take Joanne—fictitious name and details as seen on the graphic—a 40 year old woman who works at JJ’s Mortgage company. She went for a COVID-19 PCR test, T+, on April 26. The next day when the test was positive, a simple 10-minute process of early tracing helped prevent further infections. Her symptoms, S, mild fever and cough, started three days earlier on Friday. She thought it was her allergies.

She suspects she got exposed, Ex, on 4/19 when one of her colleagues had been ill. Experts tell us that our symptoms develop 3-5 days after exposure and that we begin to be infectious two days before the start of our symptoms.

So Joanne has been infectious and spreading the virus to others since 4/21.

Early tracing steps help determine who else she may have exposed.

First, there are the people in her household, which includes her husband and son. Since the husband has been vaccinated, it is unlikely he would get infected with COVID1-9. Her son who is too young to be vaccinated is very likely positive, tested negative possibly because he was tested too early, or had a rapid test which can miss the infection.

Also, Joanne has been infectious since 4/21. She has likely infected four people in her work, W, and over six people in the community, C, at her church.

All this can be noted using simple steps that you can follow and then share the information with the health department when they call.

Also multiple local laboratories, including Poplar Healthcare are doing early tracing and sharing the information with the health department for rapid control of the virus.

You can download the tracing sheet from the website www.poplarhealthcare.com

Early tracing steps to follow:
1. Note the date you were tested positive, and mark as T+.
2. Think back when your symptoms started and include those on the calendar timeline. (You are infectious 2 days prior to your symptoms starting.) If you know when and how you were exposed to Covid, include this date on the timeline.
3. Think about all the activities you did and those who you were in contact with from two days prior to symptoms until the positive test. At each place you visited, include the number of persons who may have been exposed. Record the name of the institution where exposure occurred – also write the address and phone number.
4. List the number of persons in your home. Encourage them to get tested.
5. Include where the persons in your home went during the time from two days prior to symptoms until now. At each place they visited, include the number of persons who may have been exposed. Record the name of the institutions where exposure occurred and also write the address and phone number.
6. Include vaccinations or Covid results for you and the persons in your home.
7. Record who you were infected by, if you know, and if/when you were called by the health department.

COVID-19 tracing seven step process
COVID-19 tracing seven step process

Be sure to include school, work, religious events, traveling, and any parties or gatherings you visited. Share information and prepare for when the health department calls.

This process of early tracing helped control the outbreak of the UK strain B117 among the athletic department at University of Memphis, and also helped contain over a half dozen P1 highly infectious strains from Brazil. Early tracing can now stop further spread.

Each day over 100 new cases of Covid are reported. Studies show that if we can even reach 60% of these cases with early tracing within 24 hours of the positive test we can make a huge impact in decreasing future cases.

Empowered with early tracing information, the Shelby County Health Department team can actively work to get further details, and connect with the exposed contacts and institutions. So, in Joanne’s case the health department can encourage JJ’s Mortgage Company and Joanne’s son’s school to have more people, especially those who are contacts, to be tested. More testing identifies those who are infected asymptomatically and lowers the spread of infections.

If we are to get ahead of the virus, we need to respond rapidly for testing and tracing. We need to respond to each positive COVID-19 case no different than when we respond to an emergency of a heart attack or stroke. Hundreds of COVID-19 infections per day are a public health emergency.

Source: Commercial Appeal