Home » News » Suspected case with a South African mutation: This is how the authorities proceed

Suspected case with a South African mutation: This is how the authorities proceed

“Due to the early preparation, we have a good overview of the spread of the mutations and can act accordingly. I urgently appeal to the people in the country to actively and honestly participate in the contact person survey, otherwise the efforts of the authorities to contain the virus will be in vain “, emphasizes state medical director Petra Juhasz.

Salzburg’s authorities are reacting to developments

The mutations of the coronavirus such as the South African, British and Brazilian variants are, according to the current state of knowledge, far more contagious than those previously known. The health authorities in Salzburg reacted to this new development of the pandemic weeks ago.

The measures at a glance

  • Targeted preliminary examination of all positive PCR tests for mutations by the country’s partner laboratories. Whether a mutation is suspected or not can be determined within 48 hours.
  • Whole genome sequencing of the suspect samples by AGES in Vienna
  • All contact persons in Category 1 (close contacts) are tested as usual using the PCR method.
  • All contact persons in Category 1 (close contacts) – even if there is no suspicion of a mutation for the time being – are automatically tested again for Covid-19 from the fifth day after the positive PCR test of the index person.
  • Category 2 contact persons of suspected mutations are subjected to a PCR test from the fifth day.
  • Household members of contact person 1 are required to wear an FFP2 mask outside the household.
  • Contact tracing was adjusted to the mutations in Salzburg. As before, the teams in the district authorities, the central team of the Covid Board, the soldiers of the armed forces and the contact tracers in the communities can be deployed flexibly depending on the number of cases or clusters.

Juahsz with an appeal to Salzburg

Contact tracing is still very important when it comes to breaking the chain of infection and containing the pandemic. “However, this loses its effect if people are not precise about their contact persons, intentionally or unintentionally. I know and I am very aware that there are great concerns about quarantine or other inconveniences, “said Juhasz.

Truthful information is much greater for the community, the expert continues: “I therefore appeal to everyone: Please help the authorities to specify your contacts as precisely as possible. An honest answer can do a lot for everyone here, especially now, because the virus mutations continue to spread and are proven to be more contagious, ”said Juhasz.

(Source: SALZBURG24)

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.