Some people infected with Covid-19 have waited for an epidemiologist's call for a week. Some have managed to get healthy before they are contacted by employees of SPKC. In addition, the call is received so late that the “Stop Covid” app is no longer able to find contacts.
“It all started on 26 December. In the morning I awoke with a runny nose and a headache. In the afternoon, the symptoms eased and I felt relatively good. Someone else in our household also got sick. Consequently, symptoms appeared. My wife did the test and it was positive. She did the test on 31 December and the results were received on 1 January,” said Gatis Lillais, who had been infected by Covid-19.
The call from SPKC was received by Gatis nearly a week after the test results, but the code needed for the application had still not been received. “[It had been] 14 days since the onset of symptoms and close to a week since there have been no symptoms,” Lillais said.
During this phone call, SPKC gives advice about treatment and the course of disease, and sends code to be entered in the Stop Covid application.
“I asked why they called so late. They explained to me that, at the moment, only 31 December's positive results were being called. So I even got called outside the queue,” said Lillais.
The SPKC said that the center's resources allow around 800 people a day to be called. As the number of sick people in recent weeks often exceeds 1000 people a day, they are not able to reach them all at once. SPKC also receives the results later than the infected person themselves. Similarly, they are often delayed by incorrect contact information.
“Of course, a delay is forming here. A person who has received a positive result may not receive a call from the SPKC during the same day,” said SPKC spokeswoman Ilze Arāja.
