Contact tracing at the limit nationwide – salzburg.ORF.at
Coronavirus
The rapidly increasing number of CoV infections in the federal state is noticeable in the contact tracing of the Salzburg health authorities and long waiting times on the telephone hotline 1450. The number of callers has doubled since the protective measures were lifted.
The omission of protective measures against the corona virus is already more than clearly noticeable on the health hotline 1450, says Red Cross spokeswoman Roberta Thanner. The number of daily calls has increased from 3,000 to 6,000.
Online registration for free testing recommended
Although 30 employees are on the phone, there are considerable waiting times, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thanner therefore recommends dialing 1450 in the off-peak hours and increasingly using the online platform for free testing salzburg-testet.at to use.
Consistently high utilization since January
The contact tracers of the health authorities deal with around 2,500 new cases of infection every day, says Peter Schinnerl from the country’s coronavirus management. “We see a very high utilization of our system. We are absolutely among the top numbers and of course we notice that in contact tracing. We already said in mid-January that we would have to prioritize if the number of cases exceeded 2,000. We never got away from that. And we’re now heading in a direction where the system as a whole is starting to squeak,” says Schinnerl.
Quarantine notice: Waiting time of up to three days
Despite all the automation, the volume can hardly be managed. “We try to separate everyone in time. But we have to honestly say that it can take two to three days, especially in the central area – also in the city of Salzburg and in Flachgau – until you get the separation notice,” says Schinnerl. According to Schinnerl, more than the current 120 contact tracing employees use would no longer bring any speed advantage with the existing IT system.