Meet COVID detectives
A TEAM of Barwon Health “disease detectives” is leading efforts to track and limit the spread of COVID-19 in regional Victoria.
Team lead and infectious disease expert Deb Friedman said there was still no clear evidence of community transmission in Geelong.
Contract tracing team members work with the Department of Health and Human Services to identify where the virus is transmitted and who has been potentially infected.
They interview all positive cases in the Barwon South West region, including in Colac, and will soon start working with health services to carry out tracing throughout regional Victoria.
Associate Professor Friedman said the team was working long hours to find any information that would help limit the spread of the virus.
“When we are given a new case, within hours we’ve been in contact with that person and all their identified close contacts who could potentially become infected,” she said.
The team is made up of doctors and allied health and nursing staff who undertake tracing of people who have been in close contact with those infected with COVID-19.
They determine if there is any risk to these contacts and recommends isolation and testing as appropriate, using the same processes as DHHS.
“Having a clinical background allows our staff to better understand a person’s symptoms,” Prof Friedman said.
The team works with the COVID-19 monitoring team, which routinely checks on people who have tested positive or are in isolation due to contact with a positive case.
Prof Friedman said the role combined clinical knowledge and detective work.
“When we interview people, we encourage them to review their diary, calendar, smartphones and their bank statements, which might jog their memory,” she said.
Prof Friedman said understanding specific details about the Geelong community had given an excellent insight about how transmission had happened in the region.
She said cases had been passed through close contacts.
“There would have been pieces of information that we wouldn’t have known about if the contact tracing was being done in Melbourne,” she said.
“I think on a community level, we just understand our community and we can work with them.”
She urged residents to keep a clear record of where they’ve been and consider carefully who they gather with.