Covid-19 crisis Contact tracing is an ineffective and wasteful activity
Contact tracing is implemented under Dorscon Orange. I find it to be an ineffective and wasteful activity.

Let me explain why.

Mr X took the bus and changed to the MRT train to go to have lunch with his friend in a shopping mall. 

He visited his club in the afternoon and was found to have a fever.  He went to a clinic and was sent to hospital. He was found to have the covid-19 virus.

Who are the people that he might have infected? They are quite likely to be the people sitting next to him in the bus and the train and also his friend and the servers in the restaurant. 

These people are not captured in the contact tracing. 

Mr. X might have gone around for a few days with the virus in his body and no symptoms. How many people who have been infected by him in the public transport and places that he had visited. We do not know. They are not captured by the contract tracing.

Meanwhile, we are collecting contact tracing information at workplaces, clubs and many other places. If he had visited some of these places, does it mean that all the people who have left their contact information during that day or over a longer period had to be contacted and traced?

Even if some of the contacts had been traced, what happens? They will be asked to be quarantined at home for 14 days. Many of these people cannot afford to be without an income for such a long time. Even if they are on paid leave, their employer will be unhappy and may not be able to afford the loss of productivity. 

More importantly, is the home quarantine really necessary? How about the countless people that might have been in contact with the infected persons that are moving around the community? Are we "punishing" just a few who happened to be unfortunately to be caught in a questionable process?

I am in favor of taking the necessary measures to stop the spread of the virus. I will write on these measures separately.

But my common sense tells me that contact screening is an ineffective and wasteful activity and should be stopped. Let us put our resources to more effective measures. Let us think through the problem carefully.

Tan Kin Lian

 

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