‘Detectives’ hot on trail of virus

AFFECTIONATELY coined the “Sherlock Holmeses of the health world”, the public health unit’s contact tracing team is on the front line in the defence against COVID-19.

With contact tracing a vital piece in the COVID-19 puzzle, Townsville public health physician Dr Julie Mudd ( right) says identifying potential contacts s and locations that could be at risk are all part of the detective work.

“In the event a person tests positive for COVID-19, we activate e our contact tracing immediately,” she said.

“Our goal is to find out two things; where did the person get infected and who could they have spread it to?

“If a positive case has isolated at home, they will likely have only one or two close contacts. However, if a positive case has attended multiple venues with prolonged physical contact, the contacts can be in their hundreds.”

The contact tracing team has a core group of 10, with another 50 health professionals trained since the pandemic began.

“Contact tracing is something the public health unit do on a daily basis for a wide range of other communicable diseases such as measles, dengue fever, Q fever and meningococcal disease,” Dr Mudd said.

“However, since the pandemic began we have trained about 50 additional health professionals from areas that are likely to be suspended during a COVID-19 outbreak so they can be deployed to help get any outbreaks under control.

“We are doing all we can to keep the town safe, however, we need the community to play their part in stopping the spread.”