Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 June 2020
643. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Health if there is need for more Covid-19 contact tracing officers; if those in the private sector or without work can apply for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9060/20]
View answerContact tracing has traditionally been undertaken by specialists in public health. Specialists in occupational health and infection prevention and control are also involved in cases involving healthcare workers and healthcare facilities. To meet the scale of contact tracing capacity required for Covid-19, the HSE established 9 contact tracing centres (CTC’s), and trained 1,700 public servants in contact tracing. These centres are there to deal with the high volume but generally more routine cases.
The 1,700 pool of trained people can be drawn on as needed. They remain attached to their own organisation, and continue to work for that organisation when they are not contact tracing.
Excellent co-operation from higher education institutions and civil and public sector bodies facilitated the quick ramping up of Contact Tracing capacity. The resource model has the flexibility required to address fluctuations in the numbers of identified cases.
The number of people needed for contact tracing varies and has reduced from an average of 200 tracers per day in mid-April to under 100 tracers per day throughout May. This is in line with reduced number of positive cases and close contacts since mid-April, during the period of restricted public movements.
The HSE is satisfied that the capacity which is currently in place is more than sufficient to meet the anticipated demand. While it is important that we have this capacity in place now, it has been stress tested and is ready for potential spikes in number of cases or changes to the case definition. Therefore, the HSE is not seeking resources from outside the public service at this point.
