COVID contact tracers encountering ‘fear, anxiety, confusion’

Contact tracers across the province have had their detective hats on to try and determine how COVID-19 is spreading.

Contact tracers are tasked with finding out where community transfer of the virus is happening. They talk to people who have tested positive for the virus, determine where they have been and who they came in contact with, and then repeat that process with the people who are named.

“ ‘You know that you now have COVID. We want to get you the supports that you need but now the very big question – what have you been up to recently?’ As a contact tracer you just hold your breath and hope they say, ‘Not much,’” said Cara Bentz Tramer, a nurse and director of public health and home health with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. She joined Gormley on Friday.

“You get those names, you speak to the individual and ask what those encounters were like. You try to get that person’s version of the story. And then our job is to call all those people and have that conversation with them. The reaction when we do call them sometimes (is) certainly some fear, anxiety, confusion, just complete shock,” Tramer said.

There are about 50 people working daily on contact tracing for COVID-19 in Regina alone.

“The local response is really important. You know your neighbourhood, you know your communities, you know what those interactions will be (and) what kind of questions to ask,” Tramer said.

However, if there’s a surge in cases somewhere else in the province, tracers from other areas can help out easily.

Tramer also said tracers will do almost everything possible to track someone down if they were given a wrong phone number or information.

Along with letting people know they came in contact with a COVID-positive person, contact tracers provide tips and advice for people on how to self-isolate to keep contacts low.

“They don’t necessarily know what’s coming next (and) what does this mean for them,” Tramer said. “So it’s certainly our job to explain that, give them the tips and information that they need: What does self-isolation mean now in their home? What does it mean for family? What does it mean for work?”

She said once people begin to feel symptoms, they should look to get tested immediately.

“Waiting 48 hours will give you your best chance at an accurate result. Hopefully that entire time they’ve had symptoms, they’ve been isolating so that if that result does come back positive, we don’t have more contact tracing to do,” Tramer said.

“We’ve seen people that can have symptoms as soon as Day 2 or some people on Day 12 or 13. By the time we get them tested and get that result back, we’re able to start the process. But true self-isolation will mean that even if you did contract COVID, we don’t have to identify your family members as close contacts.”