Thread by @RussellSieg

There is nothing preventing America from Contact Tracing via human phone calls like the Germans except political will.
washingtonpost.com/world/europe/c…

"BERLIN — There's no sophisticated technology in the northern Berlin office where Filiz Degidiben spends her days tracking down contacts of people infected with the novel coronavirus.

Her main tools are the phone by her side, a yellow calendar on the wall & a central database."

"As the United Kingdom and the United States scramble to hire teams of contact tracers, local health authorities across Germany have used contact scouts such as Degidiben since they confirmed their first cases early this year.

Epidemiologists say the effort has been essential.."

"to the country’s ability to contain its coronavirus outbreak and avoid the larger death tolls seen elsewhere, even with a less stringent lockdown than in other countries. Germany has experienced around 10 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people. The United States has seen..."

"nearly three times as many. France, more than four times. Britain, more than 5½ times."

As restrictions here are lifted, Chancellor Merkel has singled out tracking infection chains as the key, above “all else.” Germany aims to have 5 contact tracers for every 25,000 people..."

"or about 16,000 for its population of 83 million.

In Reinickendorf, the Berlin district where Degidiben works, a lack of scouts is not a problem. There are around 75 in place for the district’s 260,000 people. A post-lockdown spike in infections has not yet materialized here."

"Four out of 6 contact tracing teams are in hibernation.

Degidiben picks up the phone and dials her first case for the day: an 82-year-old man whose lab results have come back that morning. It’s 1 of just 2 positive cases in the district, down from a peak of around 30 in March."

"“You’ve tested positive for coronavirus,” she notifies him."

In contrast to the tracing programs heralded in countries such as China, Singapore & South Korea, Germany’s effort is decidedly low-tech. Privacy concerns — which run strong in Europe and particularly deep in Germany"

"with its not-so-distant memories of fascism and communism — have limited the potential of contact-tracing apps. So the tracing is largely a case of calling the recently diagnosed patient and asking his or her movements.

Degidiben asks the 82-year-old if he’s had contact with.."

"anyone for more than 15 minutes since 48 hours before his symptoms developed. Only his wife, who gets designated as a Category 1 contact and is put under state-mandated quarantine.

Those in contact for less than 15 minutes are put in Category 2 and advised, but not required..."

"to isolate for 14 days.

The man’s daughter, whom he says he has seen only while wearing a mask and at a distance, is not designated at risk.

The whole conversation lasts just over 10 minutes. It’s a simple case, but that’s been normal since social distancing restrictions..."

"were implemented, health workers here say. Someone from the health department will call him daily to check in on his symptoms.

Germany’s trace-and-quarantine approach is by no means flawless. In about 65 percent of the cases here, health authorities have no idea how a person.."

"was infected. Asymptomatic carriers are no doubt falling through the cracks.

And while Reinickendorf officials have managed to call contacts for every case they’ve received, some more poorly funded and harder-hit areas have been overstretched."

"Reinickendorf began to build its contact-tracing team in March, as an outbreak in a kindergarten went beyond the capacity of the usual contingent of health officials. Workers were moved from parts of the local administration for which the outbreak had caused work to slow."

“There were two options, sit at home or do something new.”

"While the number of cases has remained low for the moment, they are slowly becoming more complicated, as people return to hairdressers & restaurants & the tangle of inevitable contacts that come w/daily life."

"Last week, a child who lives in a neighboring district but attends school in Reinekendorf tested positive. The whole class of 20 children and two teachers had to be called and quarantined. Some, including another child with symptoms, had been staying at a local refugee shelter."

"His family of seven were all quarantined.

The phone lines clogged with anxious parents and administrators.

“Schools are very time-consuming in comparison to elderly homes,” said Jakob Schumacher, head of Berlin’s infectious disease division. “At schools, the risk is small...”

"but you spend huge amounts of time explaining things.

The district’s health department is split on whether they’ll see more cases soon. In Berlin, where there’s no requirement to wear a mask, there are only a few dozen new cases a day..."

"Parks and markets have remained busy throughout the pandemic.

Health officials had played down the increase in Germany’s infection rate after the country began to reopen schools and nonessential shops, saying it was driven by isolated outbreaks in several nursing homes and..."

"a meatpacking plant and not directly linked to openings.

However, outbreaks linked to a restaurant and a church in the country’s east in recent days have sparked concerns, and local health authorities are looking into whether distancing guidelines were broken."

Degidiben believes that caution among the population and continued distancing rules are still limiting the spread.

Larscheid said he expects a rise in cases in the coming weeks.

“Everything is getting a little bit less tight, and the people feel it,” he said. But while...”

"no one can say for sure if there will be a second wave, or a third, he said, “now we have a way to handle it that works, that’s already proven to work, so we sleep a bit better than before."

In Trump and Mitch's COVID-19 response, they point fingers at others for 5 months while doing nothing. Meanwhile, people sit at home with no income when they could be doing something to help like contact tracing by phone for little cost.

100,000 unnecessary deaths and the survivors divided in every possible way while feeling like there is no plan for the next waves of the pandemic.