Salathé, Marcel; Althaus, Christian L; Anderegg, Nanina; Antonioli, Daniele; Ballouz, Tala; Bugnon, Edouard; Čapkun, Srdjan; Jackson, Dennis; Kim, Sang-Il; Larus, Jim; Low, Nicola; Lueks, Wouter; Menges, Dominik; Moullet, Cédric; Payer, Mathias; Riou, Julien; Stadler, Theresa; Troncoso, Carmela; Vayena, Effy and von Wyl, Viktor (2020). Early evidence of effectiveness of digital contact tracing for SARS-CoV-2 in Switzerland. Swiss medical weekly, 150, w20457. EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag 10.4414/smw.2020.20457
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In the wake of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), contact tracing has become a key element of strategies to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Given the rapid and intense spread of SARS-CoV-2, digital contact tracing has emerged as a potential complementary tool to support containment and mitigation efforts. Early modelling studies highlighted the potential of digital contact tracing to break transmission chains, and Google and Apple subsequently developed the Exposure Notification (EN) framework, making it available to the vast majority of smartphones. A growing number of governments have launched or announced EN-based contact tracing apps, but their effectiveness remains unknown. Here, we report early findings of the digital contact tracing app deployment in Switzerland. We demonstrate proof-of-principle that digital contact tracing reaches exposed contacts, who then test positive for SARS-CoV-2. This indicates that digital contact tracing is an effective complementary tool for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Continued technical improvement and international compatibility can further increase the efficacy, particularly also across country borders.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) |
Graduate School: |
Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Althaus, Christian, Anderegg, Nanina Tamar, Low, Nicola, Riou, Julien Yannis |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services |
ISSN: |
1424-7860 |
Publisher: |
EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag |
Funders: |
[4] Swiss National Science Foundation |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Doris Kopp Heim |
Date Deposited: |
21 Dec 2020 16:23 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 15:43 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.4414/smw.2020.20457 |
PubMed ID: |
33327003 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.150033 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/150033 |
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