The Public Health Agency’s’ Contact Tracing Service (CTS) ‘digital first’ model was launched on Friday 09 October 2020. The new service provides online self-service contact tracing for the majority of people who test positive.

The system will contact people with a positive test result by text message and provide them with a personal code which they can use at a dedicated website to input details of their recent close contacts. 

The system then automatically contract those close contracts; advising that they must self-isolate and signposting to the PHA website for further information and guidance.

The move to digital will enhance CTS ability to rapidly alert people who need to self-isolate, and will create greater capacity for contact tracers to deal with more complex cases and settings. This is important given the significant number of positive cases coming through the system.

Most positive cases will go through the digital system by default, but manual contact will still be made with some people who test positive and some contacts where a digital approach is not appropriate, for example those who do not have access to a mobile phone or to the internet.

There will be safeguards and checks built into the model to help ensure that the method of engagement is appropriate for each individual who is a positive case or a contact.

The current development builds on automation that was introduced last week when CTS launched a new text alert service so that contacts of confirmed cases receive a message asking them to self-isolate as soon as their details are entered into the CTS system.

https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/contact-tracing-service-goes-digital-first