dogluva
Kennel Immortal
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- Nov 23, 2007
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In the early days here, after the first lot of disembarkation cases from Ruby Princess, two people returned to our little town with the instructions of self isolation. They did so and a day after they returned were contacted by Health Department and directed to be tested for the virus. The gentleman was positive, but had only the symptom of a slight headache, nothing else and the woman negative. Those people had minimal contact on the way home as they used their own vehicle and had one stop on the way. So contact tracing would have been pretty much easier then than after extended contact. For there to be effective tracing after quarantine conditions are lifted it will be interesting to see what is actually put in place.Contact tracing can be very helpful in the intermediate future. I couldn't point it out anymore, but I saw a video from an American in China. They've basically all been given personal swipe cards and most shopping destinations have machines to read them. So if a new case is discovered they can track the vast majority of people that have been in proximity to that person outside of the home. It's less intrusive than an app on your phone, but probably every bit as effective. The main problem I see with this at present is that for an indeterminate amount of time you may transfer the virus to others before you become symptomatic. If you are infected for a week without knowing, you can spread it to many people, who in turn can spread it before knowing they're infected. So while the machines used to track people's movements might be expensive initially. They've largely allowed China to keep on top of new infections.
So while many people see the reduction in cases in China as a conspiracy, I personally think they've developed common sense strategies to stay on top of the new cases in an active way. Rather than pointing fingers at them we should be learning from the successful strategies they're using and tailor our response in similar ways.
Lockdown are helping to curb the spread, but it is still spreading. Tracking and testing can go a long way.
I don't know what measures NZ plan to put in place in conjunction with the reduced level. As you say, it's still leaving the potential to undo the good work so far if people don't take care. But throughout the world some balance needs to be found between perpetual lockdowns and the need to function as a society. Ardern seems pretty switched on and hopefully she and the rest of the NZ government bring a good strategy into play to trace contact between infected people and those who come into proximity with them.