1/14 #PublicHealth Contact Tracing 101 & YOU: Achieving and maintaining low levels of #COVID19 activity is crucial for minimizing illness and deaths, but it also preserves capacity for #TestandTrace to bring the epidemic under control.
2/14 If we think of #COVID19 cases as small fires (and contacts like dry grass waiting to ignite), local #PublicHealth are the firefighters and case isolation, contact tracing/quarantine is like dousing with water to control the blaze.
3/14 The more fires there are to put out, the greater the risk that #PublicHealth capacity and resources will be overwhelmed trying to get to all the fires before the wind shifts and starts an uncontrollable blaze.
4/14 When epidemic growth is increasing exponentially, as it did at the beginning of the #COVID19 epidemic in Canada, there were too many little fires that quickly merged into a big blaze, overwhelming #TestandTrace capacity.
5/14 This is why closure of social and economic spaces was required, much like a countrywide fire ban, to bring the #COVID19 epidemic under control and not overwhelm the health system.
6/14 Thanks to Canadians’ collective efforts in our biggest “bucket brigade” to date, the big fire is out and local #publichealth #COVID19 fighters can now do what they do best – case investigation and contact tracing to control smaller fires!
7/14 Case investigation involves local #publichealth identifying #COVID19 cases through lab testing and conducting exposure investigations to understand how/where cases were infected and who they may have spread the infection to.
8/14 Contact tracing comes next and involves, tracking down every person who may have been exposed to the case, either directly through close contact, or indirectly in a shared space like a home or workplace.
9/14 But the work doesn’t stop there. Cases who are identified need to be provided with education and support on how to self-isolate to ensure they do not expose others to the virus.
10/14 Similarly contacts, few or many, need information and support to quarantine and monitor for #COVID19 symptoms, while #PublicHealth follow up continues for weeks until cases and contacts no longer pose a risk for spread to others.
11/14 Ultimately, the success of case finding and contact tracing is in the speed and completeness with which it is done. The fewer the number of cases and contacts, the faster and more completely new fires can be extinguished.
12/14 That’s where Canadians come in. By keeping ↑ #PhysicalDistancing + #GoodHygiene and AVOIDING high risk exposure settings like closed spaces, crowded places and close contact situations, WE stop new fires from starting as we reopen.
13/14 Limiting the number of contacts that we each have is also important as it means less fuel for any fires that do start. This will allow #PublicHealth to rapidly complete contact tracing and keep #COVID19 under control. #TestandTrace
14/14 Canada needs all the volunteer #COVID19 firefighters we can get – help smother the embers by keeping #publichealth practices UP and your number of contacts DOWN – public health thanks you!! #TeamCanada
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