“Council public health teams remain ready to use their unique expertise, including speaking other languages, and understanding of their communities to try to reach those who cannot be contacted by the system."
Responding to the publication of the NHS Test and Trace service figures for the period 2-8 July 2020, Cllr Paulette Hamilton, Vice Chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Those testing positive for COVID-19 have a responsibility to help halt its transmission and protect those most at risk. It is good that the majority of people testing positive are being reached and are passing on details of their close contacts.
“Council public health teams remain ready to use their unique expertise, including speaking other languages, and understanding of their communities to try to reach those who cannot be contacted by the system. They need information on who they should be trying to contact, including the 618 people who could not be reached most recently.
“More information is being shared with councils but it is vital that this data is available daily. With the right powers, flexibilities, data and long-term funding, councils can help to manage potential outbreaks and prevent the spread of infection.”
Notes
NHS Test and Trace statistics (England): 2 July to 8 July 2020
The LGA represents more than 330 councils of all types across England. We work on behalf of our members to support, promote and improve local government.
It is councils who had led communities through the COVID-19 crisis. Our recent polling shows that 71 per cent of residents trust their council and two thirds are satisfied with the way their local council runs things in their area. Our new discussion paper - Re-thinking Local - sets out how councils must now be empowered to locally-lead the COVID-19 recovery and tackle the economic, environmental and community challenges that we will face as a result of the pandemic.