People refusing to reveal close contacts, public health official warns

The Covid-19 testing centre at the University of Limerick, which was set up earlier this month in response to the high number of cases among the student population. Picture: Brian Arthur

Public health officials in the Mid-West have flagged deep concerns with contact tracing in the region.

Covid-19 contact tracers have encountered incidents of people ignoring calls, not disclosing how they may have been infected, or refused to reveal other close contacts, according to a senior official at the Department of Public Health.

Some people may also be denying they are a close contact of a confirmed case “out of fear that the workplace may suffer due to reduction in staff numbers or temporary closure”, warned Dr Mai Mannix, director of Public Health Mid-West in a briefing document sent to politicians on February 17.

Dr Mannix revealed that her team of contact tracers in the Mid-West “encounter challenges” such as “people not answering their phones, reluctance to reveal their close contacts, and occasionally people not wanting to disclose how they may have been exposed to the virus”.

If someone was infected at a house party, they may be hesitant to divulge that level of detail."

Other challenges can be “establishing close contacts in workplaces, particularly small ones, where some work colleagues may deny being a close contact, out of fear that the workplace may suffer due to reduction in staff numbers or temporary closure”.

While the incidence rate in the Mid-West has "fallen considerably", Dr Mannix said the decline was slowing and the prevalence of the virus "remains stubbornly high". Specifically, she referenced high case numbers "arising out of transmission in households and workplaces”. 

She also warned her department was “still managing serious outbreaks in [long-term care facilities)”, and that, “the new variant seems to be more transmissible, with higher numbers of infections from each new case”.

“In some workplaces, adherence to public health guidelines falls short in a number of areas, namely the wearing of masks while working and when sharing vehicles with colleagues, and in some instances, we are seeing poor social distancing, particularly while working and in break rooms," she said, urging employers to facilitate remote working where possible.

This newspaper has also reported on warnings issued to the student population at the University of Limerick, where clusters of cases remain an issue.

“This is the pattern we are observing in the student population, where spread is occurring off campus," Dr Mannix said.

Last month, there were 8,912 confirmed cases in the Mid-West – that is 2,000 more cases in the region for all of 2020.