Contact tracing is an imperfect tool for controlling COVID-19 transmission and relies on population adherence
Davis EL., Lucas TCD., Borlase A., Pollington TM., Abbott S., Ayabina D., Crellen T., Hellewell J., Pi L., Lowe R., Endo A., Davies N., Gore-Langton GR., Russell TW., Bosse NI., Quaife M., Kucharski AJ., Nightingale ES., Pearson CAB., Gibbs H., O’Reilly K., Jombart T., Rees EM., Deol AK., Hué S., Auzenbergs M., Houben RMGJ., Funk S., Li Y., Sun F., Prem K., Quilty BJ., Villabona-Arenas J., Barnard RC., Hodgson D., Foss A., Jarvis CI., Meakin SR., Eggo RM., Abbas K., Zandvoort KV., Emery JC., Tully DC., Sandmann FG., Edmunds WJ., Gimma A., Knight G., Munday JD., Diamond C., Jit M., Leclerc Q., Rosello A., Chan Y-WD., Simons D., Clifford S., Flasche S., Procter SR., Atkins KE., Medley GF., Hollingsworth TD., Klepac P.
AbstractEmerging evidence suggests that contact tracing has had limited success in the UK in reducing the R number across the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate potential pitfalls and areas for improvement by extending an existing branching process contact tracing model, adding diagnostic testing and refining parameter estimates. Our results demonstrate that reporting and adherence are the most important predictors of programme impact but tracing coverage and speed plus diagnostic sensitivity also play an important role. We conclude that well-implemented contact tracing could bring small but potentially important benefits to controlling and preventing outbreaks, providing up to a 15% reduction in R. We reaffirm that contact tracing is not currently appropriate as the sole control measure.