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Contact tracing is often no longer able to keep up with the spread of the coronavirus in Switzerland. Anyone who receives a positive result must react independently, but how?
Contact tracing is on the brink in many cantons, and calls to Corona’s hotlines often go unanswered.
Slight headache, dry mouth, itchy throat, mild cough – With these symptoms of Covid 19 disease, Andreas * joined the queue in front of the testing center in Visp in the canton of Valais last Thursday. After the test, he stayed home, without contact with other people, and waited. Less than 24 hours later, the screen of her mobile phone lit up: “Your Covid-19 test on October 22 is POSITIVE. Stay at home. The health service will get back to you quickly. “
Contact tracing should start here, but in many places cantonal offices are overwhelmed by the increasing number of infected people, as in the case of Andreas. So what should be done now?
1. Get isolated
Those who tested positive should be isolated immediately; Any contact with other people should be avoided, as the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) writes. If you live with multiple people in a household, you should settle in only one room and use your own bathroom if possible.
2. Inform contacts
In a second step, those infected must inform everyone they have had contact with up to 48 hours before symptoms appear (for at least 15 minutes and less than 1.5 meters). These people must be quarantined for ten days from the last contact with the person who tested positive.
“For me, it’s mainly about my family,” Andreas said. He reported all these contacts close to the canton through an online form. An attempt to contact the Corona cantonal hotline failed, and an email to the responsible authorities did not receive a response. Family members now, three days after their positive Corona test, received an SMS with quarantine instructions, Andreas says. “Mainly though, I’m glad they don’t show symptoms.”
3. Enter the Covid code
Anyone using the federal SwissCovid app will receive a so-called Covid code at the canton’s request. If enabled, app users will receive an anonymous notification if there has been a close contact. This is done on a voluntary basis, as BAG writes.
4. Monitor symptoms
FOPH advises people who have tested positive, whose symptoms are worsening, or who are concerned about their health, see a doctor.
With Andreas, who has been in isolation for four days, the symptoms have not worsened. However, you do not feel better, even if there have been no more serious symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain so far. After a phone call with his family doctor’s assistant, Andreas is now on sick leave for 14 days. “A friend will now pick up my medicine and put it in my mailbox,” he says, a bit uneasy for how long he really has to stay isolated.
5. Remain isolated
There is often uncertainty about the duration of isolation. Basically, canton requirements apply, writes BAG. However, if authorities do not report, as is likely to be the case in the current situation, a ten-day isolation period is applied from the onset of symptoms. You must also be symptom-free for at least 48 hours at the end of isolation.
* Name changed
