Tracking of contacts and connections to people who are infected to be expanded

The Danish health authorities have widened the scope for tracking contacts to help reduce spread further.

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By Bente D. Knudsen

“The definition of a contact person to someone infected with COVID-19 has been amended to include a greater number of contacts and connections to help break chains of infection,” says the Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke in a press release.

At present the track and trace capacity is at 3,000 newly infected per day and their close contacts, but with an expanded definition of a close contact more will need to be contacted and thus more capacity will be needed.

New is that a person who has spent more than 15 minutes at less than 2 meters from a person confirmed infected with COVID-19 is now considered a close contact in certain situations. Up to now it was set at 1 meter.

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The special situations now looked at are when singing, speaking loudly, or shouting or with physical contact, or if the contact has taken place in a small, closed room with bad ventilation.

Also, more people who have had some connection with a person confirmed infected with COVID-19 but who is not classified as a close contact are to be traced and tested.

This could be a work colleague in an office or at a production site, classmates at an institution or a sport’s team.

These connections are to be traced and quickly tested but they are not required to self-isolate unless they are tested positive with COVID-19.