The Fatal Flaw in Voluntary Contact Tracing

The Fatal Flaw in Voluntary Contact Tracing

Four people in Jersey have tested positive for coronavirus after attending the same venue on the 16 and 17 September.

The island's health department is now contacting everyone who signed in to the venue, which hasn't been named, at the same time as the four affected people.

Deputy medical officer of health Dr Ivan Muscat said the incident showed the system was working and "can respond quickly to minimise the risk of further cases".

He added: "The venue visited by the four people has an excellent contact-tracing system in place and was able to share all required information at speed.

"This is as a timely reminder of the importance of all Jersey venues collecting accurate data on every customer, and of individuals cooperating with the authorities when asked to self-isolate as a direct contact of a positive case."

But....

Although you must ask for contact details, you can not force them and should not deny a customer entry or service if they refuse to provide their information. 

Government guidance makes this clear...

This guidance is to inform Jersey organisations of their responsibility to collect customer information for the purposes of contact tracing. If you are an organisation whose activities have the potential for anyone to be within 2 metres for longer than 15 minutes you must ask to collect contact information.

Contact tracing allows us to identify those that are at the highest risk of having caught the virus from a person who has been confirmed as having COVID-19 through a positive COVID1-19 PCR test. The contact tracing process only starts when there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 established through a positive test.

The collection of simple contact information from customers allows the contact tracing team to help protect others who have been in close contact with someone who is a confirmed case of COVID-19 through the track and trace process.

But here is the complete weakness in the system! The guidance goes on to say:

Although you must ask for contact details, you can not force them and should not deny a customer entry or service if they refuse to provide their information. 

If we think it is important enough – and Health Minister Richard Renouf does - to make wearing of face masks mandatory in shops to reduce risk, then surely we need mandatory contact tracing where people are obliged to give details. Otherwise there is a gaping chasm in the “excellent contact-tracing system” which is not excellent as long as it has this black hole! 

And Richard Renouf thinks this is "robust". It's rather like putting locks and chains on  your front door and leaving the back door wide open!

https://petitions.gov.je/petitions/200499