Coronavirus: Portsmouth to get dedicated test-and-trace team to prevent local outbreaks

The NHS and Public Health England (PHE) are to provide the local authority with a dedicated ‘ring-fenced team’ to contact people in Portsmouth and the surrounding area who may need to undertake a coronavirus test after having been potentially exposed to the disease.

The deployment of national test-and-trace teams to localised areas has been used in Blackburn with Darwen, Luton and Leicester to help identify and tackle outbreaks.

Helen Atkinson, director of public health at Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘The decision to assign NHS test-and-trace contact teams locally is a sensible one. We've always worked closely with our local Public Health England Health Protection Team on outbreaks, which we've continued during this pandemic.

‘This announcement will build on this strong partnership and enable us to use our local knowledge to assist with reaching those who test positive and their close contacts.’

Through identifying potential carriers at local level and contacting people who they’ve come into contact with, the government and council hope to curb any local outbreaks and the need for a lockdown similar to that witnessed Leicester and the north west.

Helen added: ‘A well-developed test-and-trace system is crucial to reducing the spread of Covid-19. With a current low rate of infection in Portsmouth, we're looking to utilise all measures that can help us maintain this and avoid needing to implement a local lockdown as some other areas have needed.’

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All local data will be fed into a national database to provide an overview of the situation and how the virus may be spreading.

Executive chair of NHS test and trace, Dido Harding, said: ‘We’ve always been clear that NHS test and trace must be local by default and we don’t operate alone – we work with and through partners across the country.

‘After successful trials in a small number of local areas, I’m pleased to announce we are now offering this integrated localised approach to all local authorities to ensure we can reach more people in their communities and stop the spread of Covid-19.’

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