As Singapore moves to inoculate younger people, a sharp rise in coronavirus cases blamed on new variants in other South-East Asian countries prompts new restrictions, factory closures and attempts to rapidly scale up vaccination programs across the region.
May 28, 2021 Effectively integrating community engagement principles and processes into contact tracing strategies and implementation will build and promote trust for this critical operational approach ultimately reducing transmission of COVID-19 and saving lives. Evidence indicates that community trust - particularly among marginalised people - is critical for contact tracing to be successful. Contact tracing is the identification, assessment, management, and monitoring of persons who may have come into close contact with a person infected with an infectious disease such as COVID-19. This guidance articulates best practice principles for community engagement and how they can be operationalised as part of any community-centred contact tracing strategy. The material provided can stand on its own or be used to complement other documents that support strategies, implementation plans, or training and capacity building modules.