Western Morning News (Saturday)
Focus on virus hotspots to halt outbreaks
LOCAL authorities in Devon are working on plans to control local outbreaks of coronavirus as part of the next ‘test and trace’ phase.
They will focus on identifying and containing potential outbreaks in places like workplaces, housing complexes, care homes and schools.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the scheme as “local lockdowns” where there are flare-ups of the disease.
Teams will focus on hotspots in towns or villages to prevent the virus spreading.
Public health staff at Devon, Plymouth and Torbay councils will support the national rollout of test and trace services from Monday, June 1, when the lockdown is due to be partly eased and some year groups are allowed to return to school.
They will work with Public Health England and contact tracers to identify people who need to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone who has Covid-19.
The Health Secretary has said 25,000 telephone contact tracers have been recruited.
They will contact people who test positive for the virus, find out who they have been close to and may have infected, and tell those people to self-isolate for 14 days.
A contact tracing phone app being tested on the Isle of Wight is expected to be ready to be deployed in June to support the system.
NHS leaders have said a test, track and trace strategy is vital to avoid a second surge of infections, and should be in place before lockdown measures are eased.
Local support services will be expected to make sure people have what they need if they have to stay at home under the new system.
Devon County Council has been selected as one of a group of local authorities to share best practice as the test and trace system is rolled out. A council spokesperson said: “We are currently working fast with all our local partners to build on the great work done by everyone so far to develop local outbreak plans that really work for Devon and the wider South West and help our communities get back up and running again as safely as possible.
“A key part of this is public trust and confidence and we will be making sure as many people as possible feel they are a part of this process.”
Council leader John Hart said: “We will now be at the forefront of responding and managing the outbreak at a local level. And if there’s a hotspot in a town or village we’ll be able to get onto it swiftly before it spreads too far.
“The vast majority of Devon people have behaved with great sense and responsibility throughout the pandemic and that’s meant we’ve had the lowest number of outbreaks by some way throughout the crisis.
“We can now build on this effort and extend the work we have done together as Team Devon to protect and support the most vulnerable.”
The Government has allocated £300million to councils across the UK to help deliver the programme.