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The 'Efficacy' of Contact-tracing and Vaccines

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     (illustration: saurabh singh) Contact-tracing   Contact-tracing has a very low efficacy rate when it comes to preventing a epidemic because it only traces conscious contacts, or contacts one is aware of.  It does not trace unwitting contacts whom have contact with others through sitting at the same table, using the same escalator, using the same tap, holding the bars on the back of seats in buses, etc.  So unless a virus is transmitted only through prolonged face-to-face interaction, it is pretty much as efficacious as a rabbit's foot in the long-run. Contact-tracing, however, has the benefit of slowing down viral transmission, not eradicating it. That slows down the demands on medical facilities and should be implemented in the narrow window when one first gets wind of the virus, provided this is paired with other measures like physical-distancing, closing of borders, staying home, etc.  If not, Contact-tracing in itself becomes a case of holding back the tide