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On Friday Daniel Koch spoke of a new phase in the treatment of the pandemic. He called it containment.
“If the number of newly infected people decreases a little, it will be possible to track contacts across the country,” said the head of the communicable diseases department of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG).
Contact tracing, identifying contact people for infected people, is the proven way to control an epidemic. Cantonal medical services are responsible. Civil protection officers help in Thurgau or Lucerne, for example.
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If the report arrives on a crown case, the person in question is isolated and attended by phone for several days. All contacts that can transmit the virus will be quarantined. The federal government stipulates a period of ten days.
In early March, attempts were made to contain the epidemic throughout Switzerland using this procedure. An explosive number of cases made this impossible in many places in just a few days.
Because contact tracing is complex. The cantons have yet to limit themselves to conventional means: making calls and creating Excel spreadsheets, 24 hours a day, with high personnel costs. With a smartphone app, work should be more efficient from mid-May, but only marginally: calls are often essential.
Workload in Lucerne
Lucerne Cantonal Physician Roger Harstall calculates workload using his canton’s example: “If we assume five new cases per day, each of which had closest contact with ten people, the result is almost 100 hours per day”.
Lucerne continues to record more than five new infections every day, so contact tracing is not yet systematic. Harstall is confident: “A resumption is planned for early next week.”
The situation is different in the smaller cantons. For example, in Schaffhausen: “The manageable number of cases was an advantage for us,” explains cantonal doctor Maha Züger.
Telephone control is essential.
And how do you make sure that people really stay home? “People participate on their own initiative. They respect the virus, “says Züger. Telephone control is essential. “Also to ask about people’s well-being.”
Hardware stores and hairdressing salons have reopened. And soon the business will start again in schools, restaurants and stores. That is not exactly useful.
Züger: “With blocking, following up on contacts was easier. Many people had little contact with each other. The opening increases mobility again, an additional burden on the Contact Tracer. It does not facilitate the task.
