Special system used to trace COVID-19 contacts in Nagpur

Nagpur, Apr 14 () The Nagpur MunicipalCorporation's 'contact tracing system' was an effectivemechanism to track down close contacts of COVID-19 patientsand contain the spread of the pandemic, a senior civicofficial said on Tuesday.

Municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said it wascrucial to identify high-risk contacts of COVID-19 patientsand break the chain of infections.

The civic body has developed a contact tracingsystem, under which as soon as a person tests positive forCOVID-19, a rapid response team identifies, tracks down andpicks up close contacts of the patient, the civic chief said.

"We have deployed 48 RRT teams in 38 wards of thecity, who immediately probe and identify patients' closecontacts and shift them to quarantine facilities," he said.

Citing an example, Mundhe said when 17 people fromthe district tested positive on Sunday, 79 of their closecontacts were tracked and quarantined.

"We also get information about high-risk contactsfrom third party sources, wherein civic personnel speak tolocals to track down suspect cases from the area wherepositive patients are found," Mundhe said.

The system was effective, as almost all high-riskcontacts of COVID-19 patients have already been quarantined,he said. CLSARU ARU