How the great detective work of contact tracers saved many German lives
US cities battling to contain the virus’s spread are trying to mirror Germany’s aggressive and highly successful tracing techniques
18 May 2020 - 16:21
Berlin — Infections were never Joachim Lazarek’s speciality. People are. But when the new coronavirus swept into Würzburg, Germany, in early March, the 39-year-old social worker found himself on the front lines fighting it as one of the city’s scores of contact tracers.
It’s like detective work: When someone in Würzburg tests positive for the virus, Lazarek conducts interviews to follow any trail of illness the person might have left in their wake, getting in touch with their contacts to advise them to quarantine and keep a diary of their health and anyone they meet...
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