The UK Should Embrace 'Test, Trace, Isolate & Support' to Protect Households From Coronavirus

The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the countries most severely affected by COVID-19 disease as recent outbreaks in English towns such as Oldham indicate. Contact within households is thought to be responsible for roughly 70% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission when widespread community control measures are in place reported the BMJ on August 14, 2020.

Current UK guidance advises household contacts to isolate within the same home as the index case for 14-days.

'Until an effective vaccine is widely available, strategies to prevent household transmission, and to support those in quarantine, will be vital and should be a core part of any government’s strategy. The UK government should consider amending its mantra of “test and trace” to “test, trace, isolate, and support," said the BMJ.