Ministry of Health clarifies contact-tracing guidelines

In response to misinformation on contact tracing being circulated in the public, the Ministry of Health issued a statement on Monday clarifying its covid19 contact-tracing protocol.

It said incorrect assumptions, not based on science, have led to inaccurate information being spread.

The statement outlined the contact-tracing protocols. It also explained that a patient is not contagious as soon as they are infected with the virus, but only within a couple of days of starting to feel symptoms.

“An individual can be infected by a virus and may take several days to show symptoms – the incubation period.”

It said within the incubation period, a person can infect others a few days before symptoms start to show. This is the infectious, or communicable period.

“There is a clear difference between the incubation period for covid19 and the duration of the time during which someone is likely to transmit this virus,” it said.

“For covid19, the incubation period is documented to extend up to 14 days."

However, it clarified, "Covid19 infection only begins to be transmissible from one person to another from two days before onset of symptoms and does not span the entire incubation period.”

It said these facts guide the contact-tracing protocols currently in force worldwide, in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

It said the incubation period for covid19 ranges from two to 14 days, but said the period for pre-symptomatic transmission has been defined by WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as two days before symptom onset.

"It stands to reason that the contact tracing protocol must be closely linked to the infectious period for any disease, including covid19," it said, stressing, “The ministry will continue to be guided by the science as it seeks to safeguard the health of Trinidad and Tobago.”