CORONAVÍRUS Mikas announces news in contact tracing: More people can hit the field than in the previous wave! – Topky

According to Mikas, the regional public health authorities (RÚVZ) are already able to find all their close contacts with favorable cooperation on the part of positive people at COVID-19. “We can react flexibly to the development of the epidemiological situation. We can operatively increase or decrease the number of people involved in contact tracing. We look for close contacts of positively tested people every single day,” states Mikas.

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The number of people increased compared to previous waves

There was also news in improving the overall system compared to the previous wave. “We are immediately able to deploy about 760 people from the ranks of our core employees (epidemiologists and trained workers from other professional sections of the RÚVZ). In a critical situation, the RÚVZ can also deploy other people from the trade unions. regional authorities more than 175 regular staff trained in contact tracing. The total number of employees of regional public health offices has increased by 188 people, “ Mikas said, adding that the office was even working on further staff reinforcement.

RÚVZ triple system

Mikas’s office also draws attention to the so-called “RÚVZ triple system”. “The regional office occupied for the unfavorable epidemiological situation will be assisted by staff from the other two established RÚVZ, which have a better situation in their territorial districts. We are also working to provide assistance from volunteers and soldiers, who will be deployed as needed. in a critical situation in the third wave of the pandemic, according to preliminary agreements, about 500 soldiers could join the RÚVZ, ” explains Mikas.

Tracing is already losing its strength in the delta, vaccination is safer

Mikas also records information that in the case of a more contagious delta variant, tracing contacts infected is less effective due to the extremely high infectivity of this variant. “According to some information, contact retrieval is less effective for the delta variant due to its short incubation time. This argument is used in the context of effectively suppressing delta variants – variants with so highly infectious epidemiological parameters. And in this context, contact tracing is This is the most effective way to vaccinate against COVID-19. “ supplies the chief hygienist.

However, according to Mikas, this does not mean that searching for contacts is unnecessary in the set of measures to combat COVID-19. It is said to be important, and although with the increasing number of cases, the search for contacts for the parameters of the delta variant will no longer be 100%, they will continue to perform it with maximum commitment. “It’s not just a question of telephone contact with the persons concerned. Other important professional activities follow: communication with the attending physician or ordering persons for testing. It is also about evaluating data on outbreaks, population mobility and disease dynamics in the region, which helps the RACC to set up the necessary anti-epidemic measures. recalls Mikas.

Source: Topky – Ján Zemiar

As part of the epidemiological investigation, RÚVZ has been actively looking for contacts since March 2020. They did not stop even between the first and second wave during the summer months. At that time, they even intercepted not only secondary but also tertiary contacts. After the summer, according to them, the situation began to deteriorate gradually, but we still managed the autumn without critical numbers. Although the disease gradually spread, it is said to have kept it under control within the population, although they were enormously overwhelmed. “The situation worsened significantly at the end of 2020, when the dynamics of the disease increased significantly, even for new mutations. We therefore operatively increased the number of people looking for contacts,” justifies the actions of Mikas.