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After Corona test failure: Canton of Zurich is massively expanding contact tracing
Contact tracing in Zurich is overloaded and the governing council has announced several measures. These are the most important questions and answers.
What happened?
Due to the IT transmission system of a test laboratory at the University of Zurich not working properly, the crown numbers in the canton of Zurich were incorrect for the last nine days. This was revealed by NZZ on Thursday.
The Institute for Medical Virology, which evaluates the daily PCR tests of clinics in and around the canton of Zurich, is affected. The institute’s director confirmed to NZZ that in the past nine days, around 400 positive results could not be sent to the cantonal health department or contact tracing.
Although affected people learned of their infection immediately, the cantonal contact tracing team did not give them instructions.
Aside from the cantonal crown numbers falsified by TI’s breakdown, Zurich’s contact tracking is overloaded, according to NZZ: meanwhile, contact details provided by those infected could not be fully recorded “even with outside help.” Consequence: As of this week, the Zurich health department can no longer identify where someone has been infected.
How bad is Zurich’s contact tracing?
Due to the rapid increase in the number of infections, a total overload was to be feared. Therefore, the Zurich governing council announced on Thursday that it would expand contact tracing and put more test centers into operation (see below).
The Zurich health department had previously publicly admitted that the contact tracing team could no longer keep up with its work and appealed to the population for help:
those: zh.ch
What should the population do?
the SwissCovid app install and use.
If you do a corona test with your family doctor, you should ask if the Covid code will also be issued after a positive test result. This is now possible thanks to an initiative by the WFH medical association.
Anyone who has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 should inform the contact persons as soon as possible on their own initiative.
The Zurich Health Directorate writes:
«Inform your close contact persons immediately and independently and inform them. Your close contacts must be quarantined for 10 days. “
If those affected are no longer quickly contacted and quarantined, the situation threatens to spiral out of control. Chains of infection are no longer broken. The virus continues to spread.
And of course, it is still imperative to implement the Corona precautionary measures recommended by the experts (social distancing, use of a mask, hand washing, etc.).
What is the canton doing?
The health department is expanding the tracking team so that contact tracing can “continue to cope with the high number of cases and interrupt chains of infection,” as the Zurich governing council announced on Thursday.
In early December, staff will be in 175 tracers per shift increased. Greater capabilities made it possible up to 1000 new cases per day contact by phone, he says. The governing council has approved 3.25 million Swiss francs for further expansion.
According to the NZZ report, the Swiss airline’s flight attendants are also being retrained and temporarily hired by the private search company JDMT.
The Zurich governing council also approved 7.2 million francs for new corona test centers, as announced on Thursday.
Tomorrow Friday will be a Drive-in-Testzentrum in Dübendorf inaugurated, in the city of Zurich another will be added in the area of the barracks as of next Monday.
A test center in Winterthur is being clarified.
The new rapid tests are already being used in the new test centers. According to the information, 50,000 antigen tests of this type are available each week in Zurich.
