City’s innovative weapon against Covid pandemic
SAM VOLPE on the vital work of a team responding to the coronavirus crisis
NEWCASTLE has a unique weapon in its fight against Covid - its one-of-a-kind Integrated Covid Hub, which features an innovative “response centre” with contact tracers and a team of data experts looking at how we can manage our response to the virus.
The team at the Co-ordinated Response Centre, based at the Lumen in the city, support 12 local authorities in the North East with aspects of the pandemic response ranging from data analysis to contact tracing and even helping refugees to access Covid tests.
Daryl Perry runs the CRC, and he told how his team has been working to “take a step back” and consider how to improve the way public health authorities handle the crisis as it unfolds.
He said: “Our mission is to provide additional insight and resources within the regional pandemic response. There are three sides to what we do. The first is insight. We do lots of data analysis and background modelling - whether that’s looking at how the virus is spreading or what hospital capacity is like.
“Then we have a dedicated contact centre for the response. We have call handlers who support local councils with contacting people who have tested positive. That’s the people who ask who you might have been in contact with - but they also help people to access welfare support if they need it.
“The third prong of our work is to support with self-testing. In the early part of the pandemic we were coordinating the mass testing sites. And what we have also done, particularly over the last three to six months, is working with vulnerable homeless people and refugees to make sure that they are able to test themselves.
“That’s been working with organisations like Home Group and the Action Foundation, and has been a really wonderful strand of our work, though of course we’ve had some really devastating stories - but we’ve had so much good feedback from people we’ve been able to help.”
Daryl said the CRC was focused on how to improve procedures around the pandemic, and keen to “innovate” to ensure the right public health messages get to groups which may otherwise not see them.
He said the team were also keeping a close eye on how the central pandemic response was handled, adding: “We have been looking at situations where we think there’s got to be a better way to do things, looking to innovate and trying things that can then be rolled out more widely around the country.
“We’ve got the example of text alerts. We have been texting people about their contacts.
“That ends up inspiring some of the more vulnerable people who often give a really quick response to the text and we know we are then able to help them access support.”
As for emerging threats - such as the new Omicron variant which has inspired the Government’s ‘Plan B’ and a new work-from-home order, Daryl said the CRC’s main role was to assist directors of public health in the region with data and insight.
He said: “We work really closely with directors of public health.
“If things are changing and new variants are a concern or anything like that, they will hear first.
“Because of that, they might reach out to us - we’ll be able to work at looking at where cases might start to rise or what we might be able to expect.
“With something like the Omicron variant we need to push all the messages out and its as important as ever for people to follow the contact tracing instructions.”
Last week the team at the CRC produced a video explaining what people should do when they test positive for Covid-19 - and highlighted how vital it was to share close contacts with the contact tracers who get in touch with them.
Daryl added: “As we can all see, the Covid pandemic has certainly not gone away and the ongoing importance of regular testing and self-isolation with a positive result remains key to reducing the spread of the virus.
“We are hoping our animation will help emphasise how these behaviours have a continuing role to play in protecting families, friends and communities.”