Countries should follow the latest ECDC contact tracing tips.
To learn more, please take the e-learning course ‘Contact tracing in the context of COVID-19 response’.
Contact tracing in relation to Omicron
The Omicron variant of concern is rapidly becoming the dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the EU/EEA. Given its rapid spread, ECDC has provided (sub-optimal) options for adapting quarantine and isolation, particularly when countries face high or extreme pressure on health systems and other functions of society, including essential services. The scientific evidence available to support changes to existing quarantine and isolation guidelines is currently limited and involves a residual risk of transmission.
Principles of contact tracing
The goal of contact identification and management of COVID-19 cases is to support early diagnosis and interrupt transmission by quickly identifying and managing any secondary cases that may arise as a result of transmission from primary cases. This is achieved by:
- quickly identify contacts of a COVID-19 case;
- providing contacts with information on self-quarantine, good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, and advice on what to do if they develop symptoms;
- testing all contacts who have been at high risk of COVID-19 cases, whether symptomatic or not, as soon as possible after identification to allow for more thorough contact tracing;
- testing all contacts who have been exposed at low risk to cases of COVID-19 in settings where transmission is likely and/or the population is vulnerable to a severe form of COVID-19;
- test all contacts who become symptomatic.
Contact tracing is a key tool for breaking chains of transmission. For countries with high transmission, contact tracing will complement other measures, such as physical distancing, and help reduce transmission. For countries with lower levels of transmission, contact tracing is key to managing outbreaks and controlling transmission.
For contact tracing to be effective, it must be fast. This includes finding cases as soon as possible after the onset of symptoms – which requires a high level of public awareness and easy access to testing. Test turnaround time should be minimized and contacts traced as soon as possible after a positive result. While waiting for their test results, symptomatic people can be encouraged to inform their loved ones and suggest that they respect physical distancing measures until the result is known.
Below is additional information about the various settings.
Surveillance
ECDC and WHO encourage countries to monitor the effectiveness of their contact tracing operations to identify areas where coverage or timeliness need to be improved (see ECDC publication Monitoring and evaluation framework for COVID-19 response activities in the EU/EEA and the UK). To learn more about the transmissibility and characteristics of VOCs, countries are encouraged to collect and analyze contact tracing data from these cases and share the results with ECDC, WHO and other countries in the world. EU/EEA.
Data gathering
The TESSy reporting protocol describes data collection regarding contact tracing. The data collection aims to help assess the effectiveness and efficiency of contact tracing operations, provide information on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and provide contextual information on the progression of the pandemic in order to adapt response measures.
An example of analysis of contact tracing data in three countries (Italy, Ireland and Spain) can be found in this report. The report describes the main challenges that arose during this analysis and how these challenges were overcome, as well as suggestions for best practices.
Mobile app
Countries using mobile apps for contact tracing are also encouraged to refer to ECDC’s guidance on mobile apps in support of contact tracing and monitor their effectiveness using the indicator framework. joint WHO-ECDC.
With respect to VOCs, countries are encouraged to monitor the number of contacts who test positive among those notified, or apply similar measures to understand if parameter settings need to be calibrated – for example due to a variant more transferable. ECDC guidance on mobile applications contains more details on the assessment and calibration of parameters.
International cooperation
When contact tracing investigations identify contacts or a potential source in another country, public health authorities should collaborate across borders and exchange data securely (for example, through the messaging function of selective exchange of the European Union’s Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) or share data using the European Digital Passenger Locator Form).
Passenger locator forms
On May 27, 2021, the European Commission published Implementing Decision 2021/858 outlining the function of the digital passenger locator form (dPLF) in the EU/EEA.
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