Study: Self isolation, testing and contact tracing can contain COVID-19 spread

As COVID-19 continue to spread across the globe, scientists believe that a combination of measures, including intensive testing, contact tracing and social distancing can contain the spread of the pandemic. According to a research published by The Lancet Infectious Disease, the scientists said that combining intensive contact tracing along with social distancing measures may be the most effective and efficient way to curb the spread of the deadly virus. 

The recent study is the first to use social contact data to quantify the potential impact of control measures on reducing individual-level transmission of COVID-19 in specific settings. According to the study, the researchers analysed data on how approximately 40,000 people moved about the UK and interacted with others prior to COVID-19. On the basis of the analysis, they then simulated how combinations of different testing, isolation, tracing and physical distancing scenarios, including app-based tracing, remote working and etc., contribute to reducing secondary cases. 

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‘Successful strategies’ 

The researchers not only aimed to identify the theoretically controlled transmission but also what the practical implications of such a measure would be. They said that the model is based on a series of assumptions about the effectiveness of testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine. Furthermore, they also assumed that the amount of time it takes to isolate cases with symptoms was on average 2.6 days, and the likelihood that their contacts adhere to self-isolation was 90 per cent. 

Adam Kucharski, the study's co-author from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK, said, “Our findings reinforce the growing body of evidence which suggests that we can't rely on one single public health measure to achieve epidemic control”.

He added, “Successful strategies will likely include intensive testing and contact tracing supplemented with moderate forms of physical distancing, such as limiting the size of social gatherings and remote working, which can both reduce transmission and the number of contacts that need to be traced”. 

(Image: AP; Inputs: PTI)

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