Since May 13 and to support deconfinement, the Haute-Garonne CPAM (Primary Health Insurance Fund) has actively participated in the strategy of breaking the chain of contamination of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Several dozen agents are in charge, every day, of identifying people who have been in contact with those who test positive. Thus, the identification of 689 Covid-19 patients made it possible to invite 2,482 people to be tested. When the test is positive, the survey resumes around each person and so on. Isolation measures are then put in place to break the chain of contamination. For larger outbreaks (more than 3 contaminated people) or when risky sites are identified (EHPAD, nurseries, schools, hospitals, etc.), the Occitanie Regional Health Agency (ARS) takes over.
“Our main concern is not to know how these people contracted the virus but who they can contaminate”, explains Dr Jean-Yves Fatras, doctor at the CPAM of Haute-Garonne. “And this investigation is not always simple. At the beginning of the deconfinement, the patient ” zero ” (the one tested positive and from which the tracing starts) had not approached more than two or three contact persons. hui, professional activities have resumed, life too, and it is no longer rare to have a list of 40 people. When they are family members, it is easy but when you have to look for people you have met. during an evening and for which we only have the first name, it is complicated. As when our patient zero asks to remain anonymous – it is entirely his right – contact cases do not understand why they are called We are in a country concerned about individual freedoms and we respect it. We just explain that we are in a collective dynamic and that the interest is to protect each other, “continues the doctor.
When a Covid-19 case is identified, teams have 4 hours to contact it. “You have to be very reactive. The patient must then go over their entire story (Who has he seen? For how long? In what context?) And we must find the contact persons within 24 hours. sometimes the hair, but that’s life! The main thing is not to lose anyone. It’s a new job for us but the CPAM agents who volunteered are doing it with great enthusiasm ” , concludes Dr Fatras, who confirms the greater number of cases among those under 40.
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