Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

September 14, 2020

The Impact of Digital Contact Tracing on the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic – a Comprehensive Modelling Study

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  • [Preprint, not peer-reviewed] A modeling study estimated that implementing a digital contact tracing system (DCT) combined with other interventions (social distancing and/or random testing) could effectively reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by pushing R0 from above 3 to below 1 in a scenario where 40% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic. At least 60% of the population would need to use the DCT system to achieve a significant impact.
  • The infections prevented by the DCT intervention come at the cost of requiring up to 15% of the population to be quarantined each day for the duration of the epidemic, even when there is sufficient testing capability to test every traced person.

Pollmann et al. (Sept 14, 2020). The Impact of Digital Contact Tracing on the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic – a Comprehensive Modelling Study. Pre-print downloaded September 14 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.13.20192682