New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Officer of Health says contact tracing is an important step after a case of COVID-19 is diagnosed.
Dr. Jennifer Russell says keeping a list of all the places you have been helps in the process, “Every individual citizen should be keeping track of their own close contacts, in the event of an outbreak that either involves them as a close contact of a case or if they themselves test positive.”
She says it can be shocking to see exactly how many people you come in contact with over a one to two week period.
“I think if everyone just has that awareness over the course of a week to two weeks, you won’t really want to have close contact within six feet of too many people. Our ability to stay in yellow, is limiting that number of close contacts of a regular basis,” Dr Russell says.
She adds, it’s especially important to be aware of who you are exposed to, if you are part of the vulnerable population, based on your age or if you have a medical condition.
“I think it might change you behaviour, and you may begin to think of limiting your close contacts to maybe five people or fewer, whether it be people that you live with in your household or close family members, or a couple of friends, or extended family,” Dr. Russell says.
