Norfolk County Council is one of eleven local authorities chosen to take the lead on the new 'Test & Trace' government service to contain the Coronavirus.
NCC will share best practice with a new National Local Government Advisory Board that will be established to work alongside the new national test and trace service. Norfolk and the ten other local authorities, who have volunteered to help localise planning, will represent communities across the whole of the UK including rural and urban areas. The whole county will be involved in the new service, including King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Norwich, and Breckland, Broadland, Great Yarmouth , North Norfolk and South Norfolk.
A few weeks ago James raised with the Health Minister some of the challenges that rural areas like North West Norfolk might face with test and trace app and was assured that traditional contact tracing formed the bulk of this approach with the app being trialled in the Isle of Wight part of the plan.
Today James Wild MP said -
'This is an important step towards ending the lockdown safely and I am pleased that Norfolk will be at the forefront of this vital work.'
The government have announced £300 million worth of additional funding for all local authorities to support the new test and trace service in their local communities, to develop their plans to reduce the spread of the virus in their area. Each local authority will be given funding to develop tailored outbreak control plans, working with local NHS and other organisations.
The new plans will start immediately and will focus on identifying and containing potential outbreaks in places such as workplaces, housing complexes, care homes and schools. The work will be led by local authority leaders and local directors of public health in charge of planning, and will build on their work to date to respond to coronavirus locally. They will operate in close partnership with local hospitals, GP practices, businesses, religious groups, schools and charities.
As part of this work, local authorities will also need to ensure testing capacity is deployed effectively to high-risk locations. Local authorities will work closely with the test and trace service, local NHS and other partners to achieve this. Data on the virus’s spread will be shared with local authorities through the Joint Biosecurity Centre to inform local outbreak planning, so teams understand how the virus is moving, working with national government where necessary to access the testing and tracing capabilities of the new service.
Local communities, organisations and individuals will also be encouraged to follow government guidance and assist those self-isolating in their area who need help. This will include encouraging neighbours to offer support and identifying and working with relevant community groups.
Local efforts will support the national rollout of the test and trace service, in which everyone will need to play their part to stop the spread of coronavirus.
