Start Tracing now!

We've been told that a Test, Trace, Isolate, Support system will be on the way soon but we need to get the number of infected people down first; being achieved by the 'lock-down'. We also need to increase the testing capacity hugely; currently it is embarrassingly low. Testing capacity could be rapidly increased if the Scottish Government roped in our University Laboratories and those of our Biomedical Companies. Relying solely on NHS labs and the UK Lighthouse labs has resulted in our laughable test capacity. In the meantime, why are we not starting on the Trace and Isolate parts of the process? Every Local Authority already has people trained in Tracing; they're used for all kinds of Public Health situations. There are simply not enough of them to tackle this task. Have there been requests for volunteers? Despite the lack of any call-up, there are already people willing to be trained in Tracing skills. In Aberdeen there are 300 people willing to take part, in Fife, another group has 30+ people raring to go. How many more would make themselves known if the call went out? Starting the Tracing process now would enable these recruits to be trained and the people they find could soak up the short-fall between our testing capacity and the actual number of tests being done. The tracing would 'ramp-up' as the testing capacity increased.

Why the contribution is important

TTI is the only safe way out of our current lock-down. Prof. Hugh Pennington even suggested that total elimination of the virus might be possible using TTI, during his evidence hearing with the Covid-19 Committee of MSPs. Test, Trace and Isolate is a life and death issue for Scottish people; get the virus under control so we can end lockdown safely. This isn't the time for waiting, get the TTI rolling. Start Tracing now and let testing catch up while we train a skilful group of tracer volunteers.

by PaulR on May 05, 2020 at 07:55PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.9
Based on: 43 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Phoebe May 05, 2020 at 20:49

    TTI is one tool in the box and a very useful one. It will not solve all the issues. There are currently a lot of Small Animal Vets under employed, they can be proactively drafted into the ranks of those mentioned above. Many of their skill sets are useful.

  • Posted by mg68 May 05, 2020 at 20:53

    Start tracing in February maybe, no point in it now, a waste of resouces, having said that it will employ 18,000 in the uk that lockdown has created. Laughable.

  • Posted by Col May 08, 2020 at 07:54

    Good idea, but remember we need to encourage people to engage so any use of personal data has to be limited to this purpose and totally secure. As people are only infectious for a limited period of time then there is no need to keep data for more than say 60 days.

  • Posted by Lixxie May 08, 2020 at 07:57

    Scotland has lots of isolated/less density areas and lower numbers of infections, Scottish government should be doing track and trace..seems to off load responsibility to UK when things seem difficult..take responsibility and get on with it

  • Posted by CMcIlroy May 08, 2020 at 16:08

    Roadmap for waitinn list, contact all who travelled into Scotland and offer to others via media. Make the numbers transparent for each stage in road map, figure costs and time lines of estimates.

  • Posted by AlanE May 08, 2020 at 18:03

    We need a comprehensive tti process in place ASAP. The current one dimensional approach to restricting the spread of the virus does just that, offering no way out of the lockdown any time soon. We need to get on the front foot...... understand exactly how many people have the virus at any one time, who they are, who they have been in contact with, where they have been recently, and then trace any of their contacts so that the spread of the virus can be isolated and can be brought down considerably. This will need a huge increase in the lamentable target of 12k tests per day in Scotland. It will also need a large number of trained tracers and the use of technology (eg an App) by the public. This is doable if there is a will. The option is to limp along in the cycle of 3 weekly reviews of the lockdown and a painfully slow lifting of restrictions.

  • Posted by J9999 May 08, 2020 at 18:06

    Yes i would like to volunteer as a contact tracer.

  • Posted by MikeJohnston May 08, 2020 at 22:00

    I support AlanE. How do we get onto a 'war-footing' to progress this with utmost vigour? Where is the political will to cut through all the inhibitors - please note polite language?

  • Posted by BruceE2 May 10, 2020 at 13:45

    I agree, I hoped we were already doing this as it is so obvious. If we are not doing it then we should start.

  • Posted by jbooth May 10, 2020 at 20:53

    Link to description of an army of contact tracers in Massechusetts https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/us/coronavirus-massachusetts-contact-tracing.html?smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwA

  • Posted by sandragdavison May 11, 2020 at 07:18

    From the sidelines ... if having my every movement tracked via a phone means I can visit my family again .... BRING IT ON!!! (Please)

  • Posted by DaveMac May 11, 2020 at 14:59

    I agree contact tracing should be happening now, even with our current limited testing capacity. Tracing now, regardless how small, could be used to refine the process. Tracing might help turn the plateau, into a decline. Traced contacts should only have to isolate, following a positive test. Regarding testing capacity, it has been suggested in a number of articles that the Agriculture lab infrastructure, could be utilised to enhance the testing capacity in the short term.
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