Council cabinet agrees to next phase of contact tracing service

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet has agreed its support for the next phase of the Gwent Contact Tracing Service.

The council’s cabinet made the decision in a remote meeting on Thursday (July 30).

As part of Welsh Government’s Test, Trace, Protect strategy, local authorities and health boards have been asked to put contact tracing services in place in their respective areas.

Contact tracing has been carried out in Gwent since early June, with staff redeployed from the five local councils in Gwent (Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen, Blaenau-Gwent and Monmouthshire), as well as Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, to carry out the service.

The next phase of the service will see a team of staff recruited and trained, with the aim of making the service more effective and efficient.

The council will be responsible for managing and recruiting more than 100 members of staff for its own contact tracing team.

Councillor Nigel George, cabinet member for environment and neighbourhood services, said: “The council already has a wealth of experience in working with partners to tackle infectious diseases, but we recognise that these structures and relationships need to be significantly enhanced in size and scale to enable us to respond effectively to the current pandemic. 

“The agreement made by cabinet will allow us to put measures in place to prepare for the next phase of the Test, Trace and Protect service locally.”