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A MOTHER HAS raised concerns about the contact tracing system after it took the HSE four days to contact her daughter’s school when it was confirmed she had Covid-19.
In particular, it has highlighted how schools and other organizations are advised not to send people home because of a confirmed case until they are contacted by the HSE, a policy that is under pressure due to pressures on the tracking system. of contacts.
Although no Covid-19 cluster has emerged in this particular case, the mother got in touch TheJournal.ie to raise concerns about the contact tracing system in case similar issues are being experienced in other parts of the country, and in the hope that this can prevent further delays in contacting schools about confirmed coronavirus cases.
In this case, a school located in the east of the country was not contacted for four days about a positive Covid-19 test. This meant that the students and the teacher were unable to take the necessary action for two days after the student’s Covid-19 test result came back positive.
In a statement, the HSE said that while it cannot comment on individual cases, it is aware of this case and emphasized that there may be delays in the test and trace system that it is continually working to improve.
Numerous concerns have been raised about the ability of the evidence and tracing system to cope with the recent influx of cases, and what impact these delays could have on schools and workplaces.
Although media reports and anecdotal evidence indicate that not everyone experiences delays with the contact tracing system, there are inconsistencies with the system and public health practitioners have expressed concern about the pressures they face.
The timeline
The woman’s daughter was confirmed to have a positive Covid-19 test on a weekday in September. He got a call from an HSE test and trace worker the next day.
During this call, known as ‘Call 1’ in the contact tracing process, the woman was told that ‘more complex contacts’ such as a school or workplace should be contacted by more experienced contact trackers. .
The woman had contacted the school and a local sports organization to inform them of her daughter’s positive Covid-19 test on the day it was received, but both organizations said they had been informed that they should only take action when they will contact the HSE.
Three days after testing positive, the woman called the HSE helpline to say that the school had not yet been informed. She says they later advised her to contact the principal and tell them to contact the HSE directly.
The woman did this the next day and the director contacted HSE. Later that day, the woman received a call from a member of the contact tracing team who she claimed had no record of her daughter’s school details.
The mother said, “Individually, everyone is doing their best. [The contact tracer] He was quite surprised that nothing had happened. So obviously there was a mistake. ”
The big concern is that the information from the school was not transmitted and they say that they are the ones who are prioritized. That is worrisome.
And the other thing is, even though we know there are delays, they are still convinced that organizations should not do anything at all, and should continue as normal, until the HSE gets in touch.
“There were no positive cases in this situation, but if it was two or three positive this time, it could have been a very, very different situation,” the woman said.
On the same day that the principal contacted the HSE, the school was advised to send class members home to restrict their movements for a week from that date.
The mother understands that some students in the class were not tested until three days after being contacted by the contact trackers.
In a statement, the HSE said it recognizes that “unfortunately, there will be people whose contact is not traced as quickly as we would like.”
He said the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) recognizes that contact tracing will never be 100%, and the HSE “does everything possible to investigate cases where contact tracing did not occur as quickly as possible. ”To improve the system.
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How contact tracing works
Ireland’s contact tracing service operates from eight contact tracing centers across the country, seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The HSE is building permanent capacity for 500 contact trackers, and says the recruitment is “on track,” with 400 interviews conducted.
65 new contact trackers started yesterday; but Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that he wants this hiring process to be sped up.
There are currently about 280 contact trackers in eight contact tracing centers across the country.
The HSE explained the contact tracing process, adding that it can be complex:
- Once a laboratory completes a Covid-19 test, it is uploaded in a few hours to the Covid Care Tracker system.
- First of all, it is a phone call to the person who has tested positive to communicate their positive result, this is a ‘Call 1‘.
- 1 calls generally occur within two hours of uploading a positive result. If the result is loaded overnight, then Call 1 does not go through until the next morning.
- The speed of call 1 also depends on the number of positive cases reported in the upload. For example, if more than 100 positives are reported together, it may take 3-4 hours to complete Call 1.
- The duration of these phone calls may vary depending on the people who seek advice in relation to their individual circumstances and understand what a positive outcome means to them.
- Subsequently, the tracers perform a Call 2, this is the collection of all close contacts of the person who has tested positive.
- Call 3 refers to calls made to each of these close contacts to inform them that they are a close contact and will be referred for testing. “This is an incredibly complex process with the person at the center,” the HSE said.
- In addition to the high volume of contact tracing calls that take place, it is compounded by the number of close contacts that averages in 5.4 per positive case, lengthening the time needed to close all contact tracing.
- The wrong phone numbers that are provided and the multiple calls that are required to reach people also add to the workload of the Contact Tracking Center and affect response times.
Blanchardstown-based GP Dr. Marion Dyer told RTÉ Drivetime that she is receiving a significant number of calls from close contacts who have not heard from contact trackers, who said they are “overwhelmed.”
Dr. Dyer, who is also an assistant professor in TCD’s Department of Public Health, said they see examples of some patients waiting up to six days for a call.
He said some people on the HSE helpline have advised close contacts who are “frustrated” to go to their GP for a test, but that this “defeats the system and takes the person out of the monitoring system. contacts and makes us all more vulnerable to the virus.
“This shows that our contact tracing centers are not adequately staffed,” he said.
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