Three zones are allowed to start with their own contact investigation to tackle the corona virus: one in Mechelse and two in West Flanders. That writes De Standaard. In addition, central investigation will continue to exist and there is a system that combines central and local investigation.
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Local authorities and general practitioner circles had long been eager to take over contact tracing from the Flemish government, but that was not without a struggle. The government kept the door closed for a long time, only after pressure from CD&V mayors did the principle go green.
The Agency for Care and Health (AZG), which manages the central contact investigation, has now drawn up three scenarios. In one of these, the contact investigation ends up almost entirely with local authorities. For this they have to meet a number of conditions. The municipalities that wanted this could submit their proposal until last Friday.
Same software
“Three zones have done this, where a pilot project can start,” says Joris Moonens of MSF. These are the zones Mechelen-Katelijne, ‘Rits’ in Central West Flanders and ‘W13’ in South West Flanders. Those primary care areas and the Agency must now conclude an agreement. This will state, among other things, that the zones use the software developed by Smals, the IT service provider of the government. For a long time, this software had many problems. A thorough update is planned in a few weeks.
The ‘W13’ zone, which includes Kortrijk, has already started. Until the agreement with Care and Health has been concluded, the central and local contact investigation will continue to run there side by side.
Alternative: help with central research
In the intermediate scenario, the local level only contacts patients that are difficult to reach, such as non-native speakers or people with poverty problems. It also seeks out more complex situations with potentially risky contacts and analyzes outbreaks by making connections between patients. The listing of the contacts of most patients remains the work of the central contact tracing.
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