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While the Covid-19 pandemic has progressed, medical experts have used several different methods to slow the spread of the virus. Now, the port of a facial mask, practicing social distance, and washing hands regularly have practically become a second nature. But the use of another potentially effective preventive measure has struck the major snags in the U.S.:The search for contacts. In fact, a new study revealed thathalf of Covid patientsfailed to declare their narrow contacts After having tested positive.

Research, which has been published are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report, Emphasized a set of North Carolina-infected patients in a period of "high incidence" of the disease in June and July, in which cases increased by 183 for hundred. The results found that 48 percent of those who had been positive tested in Mecklenburg County reported any contact and 25 percent of those who were declared could not be achieved.

The study also cited another important finding: the median interval between the first positive test patients and successfully inform those they had been in contact with was six days.

TheFailure to implement the appropriate contact tracking Is not limited to a single state, either: researchers also point out that in Maryland and New Jersey, 50 percent and 52 percent of reported cases, respectively, reported.

"Despite aggressive efforts through health services, many CIVID-19 patients do not report contacts, and many contacts can not be achieved," concluded the authors of the study. "Improving the speed of contact research, community engagement and community attenuation are needed to reduce the transmission of SARS-COV-2. »

Researchers are not alone in their conviction that speed and efficiency are key elements for tracking contacts a useful tool. A study published in the medical reviewThe lancet In July analyzedThe effectiveness of contact search And the execution time to alert potentially infected patients. Researchers have found that "the optimization of the tests and traceability of coverage and minimize tracing delays, for example with the technology based on the application, the greater the increase in contact search, with the potential to prevent up to 80 percent of all transmissions. »

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The use of contact research via an application has struck high roadblocks first in the United States compared to other countries. But a new recent version of the software known as express exposure notification by Apple and Google has been set forUse by public health officers In Maryland, Nevada, Virginia and Washington, DC "I would say it's an improvement,"Jeffrey Kahn, Director of the Johns Hopkins Berman of Bioethics Institute, saidThe Washington Post. "He is still not at the service probably all the interests that public health would like, but it's better than nothing. And to learn more about places where contact search could be helpful, seeThese are the states where COVID cases are soaring.