After the Test: Contact Tracing

Rapid diagnostic tests using the polymerase chain reaction are being used to test for and identify SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections. Yet, with no established treatment or vaccine, the world has been forced to act quickly and implement public health measures to control transmission events based on active COVID-19 case findings and monitoring of contacts. This includes people exposed directly or indirectly to a COVID-19 case. Contact tracing and follow-up is the recommended guideline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the guideline prescribes identification of potential exposure, daily checking for 14 days, immediate referral of a contact to a medical facility if symptoms emerge, maintaining social distancing (a physical distance of at least 6 feet from others at all times), self-quarantining at home if possible for 14 days after the last potential exposure, and avoiding social gatherings, crowded places, and using of public transport (1). Contact tracing provides a critical public health measure, yet it disrupts professional obligations, potentially stigmatizes people under monitoring. Contacts also express different reactions to containment. In Contact Tracing (Fig. 1), the artist traces the traveling emotional effects of COVID-19 from person to person just like the pathogen (2). The loose, unrefined marks were left in a raw unfinished state, to reflect the emotions of the time. The colors, the movements used to create the shapes, the other kind of incorporated marks, and the crispness or muddiness of the overall piece, all show how the artist was feeling at the time of creating the work. In fact, some of the marks, like the cross hatching, were both physical and cathartic, as if relieving frustration and confusion in the moment they were made. A powerful visual representation of the psychological consequences of social distancing that follow a direct or an indirect contact with a COVID-19 case.

Fig. 1

Contact tracing. A vivid painting capturing the complexity and emotions of following a public health order for contact tracing after direct or indirect exposure to a known COVID-19 case. Reproduced courtesy of Anne Bedrick Fine Art.

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Author Contributions

All authors confirmed they have contributed to the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 4 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting or revising the article for intellectual content; (c) final approval of the published article; and (d) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the article thus ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authors' Disclosures or Potential Conflicts of Interest

No authors declared any potential conflicts of interest.

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