Contact tracers not allowed to work remotely despite staff shortages
CONTACT tracers are not allowed work from home despite concerns over staff shortages because some need to self-isolate or are unable to secure childcare.
The HSE has said the complex and urgent nature of contact tracing, as well as legal obligations to protect people’s privacy, means it cannot facilitate contact tracers working from home.
Contact-tracing staff are working in open-plan offices within contact- tracing centres, but the HSE insists Covid19 protocols such as physical distancing are in place.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said he had heard from contact tracers who feel vulnerable working in offices and he had spoken with staff who cannot return to work because of a lack of childcare.
“Some even became close contacts themselves, obviously meaning they couldn’t go into the office. With no option to work remotely, this left staff shortages at a time when our contact tracing was under the severest pressure,” he said.
In response to a parliamentary question, the HSE told Mr Gannon that before a Covid-positive person can have their contacts traced, they are telephoned by an experienced tracer to confirm their diagnosis and provide tailored public health advice.
These calls are “increasingly complex” due to congregated settings and new variants, the HSE said, with additional clinical supports provided.
The HSE said calls to close contacts can be difficult with some people “scared, confused and reluctant” to engage and additional psychological support is not uncommon. This is “significantly more effective and efficient” if available in real time in the same location, it said.
It also said it has ethical and legal obligations to protect people’s privacy. Performing contact-tracing duties at home would undermine the various “technological and organisational measures” that have been developed, it said.
The HSE said it has contingency plans in place in the event of an outbreak at a CTC and it would not be possible to provide all services from home or the efficiencies currently being delivered.
MANY of Ireland’s over-70s have been cocooning for nearly a year – but the beacon of vaccination against Covid-19 now beckons from next week.
The vaccine promises to provide extremely good protection from becoming seriously ill if they catch the virus, but what difference will it make to their everyday lives and freedoms?
Better days lie ahead, but detailed advice is needed on what they can and cannot do. The vaccine may not quite be the liberation many are hoping for just yet.
Jab of freedom
The over-70s will be offered the best vaccines available so far. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the most plentiful, is 95pc effective. The Moderna vaccine is 94.5pc effective. Professor Kingston Mills of Trinity College said this means 95pc or 94.5pc of people who get either vaccine will not get sick with Covid19. But 5pc will.
So five in every 100 people of this age group who are vaccinated and who catch the virus are at risk. The over-70s are the group most at risk of hospitalisation and death. The percentages showing protection come from clinical trials, and sufficient data on how it impacts people in the real world will not be available for some time.
Getting and passing on the virus
So far there is no evidence that anyone who is vaccinated is protected from getting the virus. If they get infected, the vaccinated person could pass it on to somebody else.
The vaccinated person may have no symptoms and unwittingly infect another person, maybe someone in their own age group who is still waiting for the jab. It could also be passed on to somebody in a younger age group who is less at risk of being hospitalised but could still develop symptoms and end up with long-Covid, which can be debilitating.
First and second dose
The vaccines are given in two doses 28 days apart. Data from the phase 3 trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine showed partial protection 12 days after the first dose. It takes around seven days after the second dose to get full protection.
There is a cautionary tale from Israel, one of the world’s leaders in rolling out the jabs. One study found a person’s risk of infection doubled in the first eight days after vaccination – possibly because they had become less cautious.
Lockdown
The rules of lockdown apply to everyone, regardless of vaccination. So that means no house visits. Once restrictions start to ease – very slowly and cautiously – there will have to be separate guidelines for people who are vaccinated.
People who have had both shots will want to know if they can meet a friend or visit their grandchildren.
Vaccinated people will still need to wear a mask, physically distance and wash their hands, as will those around them. There is a job of work to be done to set out various scenarios.
When deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn was asked this week how soon residents of nursing homes – most of whom will have both of their shots shortly – can have visitors, he said it was too early to say. Once all residents and healthcare workers are vaccinated, an assessment can be done on how to “ease up”. There is still a lot of virus around.
Herd immunity
Prof Mills said that when around 70pc of the population are vaccinated, there could be herd immunity. This will control the spread of the virus in the community.
Brighter days
There are brighter days ahead for the over-70s. But it is wise to proceed with caution even after vaccination. Life will open up again for this generation, but we won’t know by how much until expert advice is given.