1/5 👉What is contact tracing? Contact tracing is a tried and trusted approach that has been used for many years to prevent the spread of infection and to contain and stop outbreaks. 
2/5 International and established evidence suggests that contact tracing during a major epidemic has significant benefits in reducing transmission and keeping (reproductive) R0 below one.
3/5 Established contact tracing practice involves identifying those who have been in close contact with an infected person, encouraging them to self-isolate and monitoring their health.
4/5 Mass testing and contact tracing are common features in countries that have so far succeeded in limiting the number of cases of Covid-19 (e.g. Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Iceland).
5/5 As we move into the next phase of the pandemic, establishing effective contact tracing in local government as part of a national approach, will be critical in controlling the spread of the virus.
On 23 April national government announced the establishment of a National Contact Tracing Service (NCTS) as part of a wider ‘test, trace and track’ approach which is aligned to the national testing strategy. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
The NCTS has 3 tiers. 1) 15000 contact tracing call handlers based within a national call handling centre providing phone-based contact tracing, 2) 3000 trained contact tracing specialists providing phone-based contact tracing 3) A coordinating function to pull it all together.
It is acknowledged that there will need to be a strong and complementary localised element to this model that will link with local community support to people who need to self-isolate and take into account how best to link into local shielding programmes set up to support people.
LGA statement: coronavirus contact tracing strategy. Any national plans by government to track and trace coronavirus needs to be complemented by making use of existing local knowledge and skills on the ground.
local.gov.uk/lga-statement-…
local.gov.uk/lga-statement-…
Directors of Public Health working in councils, alongside a range of other local services such as environmental health, public health including sexual health services and others already have the experience of testing and contact tracing in their communities. #councilscan
