AQW 4563/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 05/06/2020
Answered On Date: 08/09/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health what has been learned about the behaviour of Coronavirus in Northern Ireland from the re-introduction of contact tracing in April 2020.

Answer:

As far as it has been possible to ascertain, the behaviour of the virus in NI is similar to that which has been the case globally. There is evidence of person to person transmission and there is a risk of transmission to other household members when one member acquires the infection.

The international evidence suggests that maintaining physical distance, frequent hand washing, minimising touching of potentially infected surfaces, good ventilation and early isolation of potentially infected cases and their close contacts can reduce transmission.

Further evidence may emerge in due course.