At the beginning of the pandemic, when there were only a few cases, the Västra Götaland region worked intensively with infection tracing. With the dramatic increase in the spring, priority was given to infection tracing in elderly care and the corona patients who were hospitalized.

But since the health centers started with the corona tests in June, 90 percent of cases in the region are detected in this way. According to Thomas Wahlberg, infection control doctor in the Västra Götaland region, this is partly why it has been possible to start tracing infections among the general public again.

- It is the treating doctor who has a responsibility for tracing infection. But it is important to be able to support and help treating doctors so that you get a quick infection tracking and can break infection chains.

The patient should detect infection

Furthermore, healthcare will continue to ask patients who receive a positive test result for covid-19 to contact the people who may have been infected. The regional unit will also help those who are unable to do so.

However, it has not been determined how many will work in the new unit, which is also temporary.

In other countries, there is a discussion about how many infection tracers are needed per inhabitant. What do you say about that?

- I do not think you can count on the need for so many tracers, but it depends on how it develops. It is important to catch up with the resources needed, says Thomas Wahlberg.

In the clip above, you see the infection control doctor telling you, among other things, why the regional infection tracing unit has not been set up before.