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Isle of Wight still using national Covid-19 Contact Tracers, but changes ahead

Local contact tracers, following up Covid-19 cases on the Isle of Wight, are not in place yet — as it is claimed there is less need for them.

When a person tests positive for Covid-19, contact tracers will alert anyone that person has been in contact with of the need to self-isolate — which is done at national base.

Dedicated teams for local areas
As demand crept up however, it was announced by government in August, the NHS Test and Trace programme will provide local authorities with a dedicated team of contact tracers for local areas.

This ensured those people the national team could not reach were found by local teams.

Success with local tracers
It was trialled in Blackburn with Darwen, where local tracers had a very successful rate of tracking down cases the national team was unable to find.

On the Isle of Wight, the council said it is in the process of setting up a local testing partnership, alongside the national service, but is not running yet.

Bryant: We will be setting it up
Director of public health for the Island, Simon Bryant, said that is because there has been a very good success rate through the national tracers who have followed up with a very high proportion of cases and contacts.

He said:

“What we need to do is look at that locally and see how we are going to develop that.

“Because we do very well through the national service, we wanted to make sure we were using our people and resources very effectively and so we will be setting it up.

“The need on the Island was less than Blackburn with Darwen.”

In some local authority areas, officers from other parts of the council – including environmental health, sexual health and in some cases fire services – have formed the local contact tracers.


This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may be been made by OnTheWight. Ed

Image: United Nations COVID-19 Response under CC BY 2.0

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ian123
13, February 2025 9:09 am

As I said beneath an earlier story, there is so little scope for discretion in local government budgeting nowadays – mostly it’s mandatory spending, largely on social care, with the discretionary areas all cut to the bone and running on a shoestring – that it’s a challenge for opposition parties to find an excuse to vote against the budget and get a story into the media suggesting… Read more »

VentnorLad
13, February 2025 9:15 am

Rather than publicly squabbling in the press about budgets and reserves and other such accounting detail, is it too much to ask that our various elected representatives work collaboratively to solve the problems encountered by residents on a daily basis? No Phil, we’re not “keen to understand that reserves have actually gone up since 2021 by £7m”. We’re keen to understand when social housing will be available… Read more »

peterspink10
Reply to  VentnorLad
13, February 2025 10:00 am

I very much hope, Ventnor Lad, that the transition to a committee system this May will reduce the political squabbling at the council.

drone
Reply to  peterspink10
13, February 2025 11:16 am

Until there is time where there is no politics in local government, there will never be an end to the squabbling. I have sat in the public gallery at many a council meetings and been taken back to the school playground on many occasions. In my view, many of the ‘political’ councillors seem to suffer from ‘big fish in a little pond’ syndrome. Despite the efforts of… Read more »

Benny C
Reply to  drone
13, February 2025 8:06 pm

Little fish, big pond. Evidence led observation.

GerryO
Reply to  VentnorLad
13, February 2025 1:43 pm

Not disregarding you concerns but surely opportunities to present correct misinformation should be taken?
Recent study at Uni of Amsterdam shows it’s a tool of far right.
I’d rather have “facts” corrected so I am better informed.
Lies are half way around the world before the truth has it’s trousers on..

https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/uva/en/news/news/2025/01/radical-right-populists-deliberately-undermining-democracy-with-misinformation.html?cb

VentnorLad
Reply to  GerryO
13, February 2025 6:48 pm

You’re quite right that fallacious misinformation should be corrected at the earliest opportunity. My point is that if politicians of all persuasions were to act with the honesty and integrity required of them (Standards in Public Life or Nolan Principles) at all times they wouldn’t need to engage in this endless, pointless and wasteful political game of claim and counter claim. They could instead just get on… Read more »

Benny C
Reply to  VentnorLad
13, February 2025 8:10 pm

Fair points well made, unfortunately perhaps rather too idealistic and clearly beyond the scope of some current incumbents who in the round we all voted for. I guess if you’ve no chance of power, acting like Liz Truss is a sort of vindictive sport. How on earth anyone conscience can live with their inane and irresponsible behaviour, played out in public (!) is beyond me, to call… Read more »

drone
13, February 2025 9:36 am

Glad to see the ridiculous claims made by the Conservatives being challenged on here.

tyke
13, February 2025 6:27 pm

Aren’t ‘earmarked reserves’ monies set aside against a known cost but not yet spent – in other words not able to be spent on any other purpose. What matter to most people are the reserves held by the council to meet any unforeseen expenditure that arises, such as the the Leeson Road landslip. Is it not the case that these reserves have indeed been reduced? In other… Read more »

drone
Reply to  tyke
13, February 2025 6:43 pm

As I understand it, General Reserves are down from the 2021 figure by a couple of million, but as has been reported widely on the Island over the past three years, there have been unprecedented increased costs and rising demand in adult and children’s social care. The ‘bickering’ is over the fact the Tories claimed the Alliance had “frittered away” almost all of the £117m reserves, when… Read more »

tyke
Reply to  drone
13, February 2025 7:17 pm

Thanks drone.
But is it not true that the amount of reserves over which the council has control – ie the ‘rainy day fund’ has gone down under the Alliance?
I’m not trying to be partisan – it appears to be both a stupid attack line and a disingenuous response. Schrödinger’s Reserves.

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