COVID-19 Contact Tracing Explained: Roles for Employers and Workers
As the world and the U.S in particular continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, various containment measures and protocols have been developed to help ease the burden of the rising cases of infections and deaths. There are heated discussions around the complexity of the concept of contact tracing and its effectiveness in helping to monitor and control the spread of the disease. In this post, we explore the idea of workplace contact tracing in terms of its definition, the role of staff and the benefits of reinforcing this strategy to help combat this deadly virus that continues to claim thousands of lives throughout the world.
Understanding Contact Tracing
Traditionally, contact tracing has largely been within the confines of state and federal agencies as well as the health department. It refers to a process involving identifying, educating and monitoring citizens who may have had a close contact with those infected with a certain disease that spreads from one person to another. During this process, health professionals interview the affected people with a view of finding out if they can recall having critical contact with anybody else while they were still ailing. This is done to help identify, alert and get hold of the contacts with an aim of treating them and avoiding continued spread of the disease. Ideally, contact tracing is similar to a family tree which helps to understand members of a lineage or to get someone’s ancestry.
Benefits of Contact Tracing in Stopping the Spread of COVID-19
• Contact tracing comes with numerous benefits not only to the individuals but also helps states or countries to manage the spread of a contagious disease. Here are some of the ways contact tracing can be beneficial:
• Creating awareness among the infected persons on the necessary steps to take in order to avoid spreading the disease.
• Assisting those exposed to the infected persons separate or isolate themselves from the rest of the population to help slow or stop the spread of the virus
• It helps to link the infected persons and the contacts with the community, state or country’s resources while in isolation or quarantine.
While contact tracing has been touted as one of the most effective ways of combating the spread of coronavirus, this method cannot be relied upon entirely to deal with this pandemic once and for all. In fact, contact tracing can be detrimental if not handled carefully and professionally. Here are some of the challenges that may be associated with this approach to containing COVID-19:
• It does not automatically stop the spread of the disease
• It can only be effective if done quickly and continuously
• It has the potential to cause trauma among those in self-isolation or quarantine if not handled with care
Social Distance Reporting Despite the above challenges, contact tracing has been lauded by experts across the world as an invaluable tool that can help stop the spread of coronavirus. However, awareness needs to be created among the working population to help them understand that workplace contact tracing or its application is not aimed at passing a judgment of causing them suffering, pain and anguish, but instead to help both the infected and those exposed to the disease.
