Covid contact tracing ends in Preston and Lancashire
The government-led contract search with Preston City Council and Lancashire County Council has ended to live with and manage Covid-19.
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All coronavirus regulations ended in England from February 24. The job of a practitioner and an officer in local contact tracing was to determine a person who had tested positive for COVID-19 from whom they might have been infected in the nearby area.
In 2020, Preston City Council was one of the first local authorities in Lancashire to undertake local contact tracing, which has had positive results in keeping case numbers low almost two years later .
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Adrian Phillips, chief executive of Preston City Council, said: “Since contact tracing began in August 2020, we have dealt with over 16,000 cases, which equates to almost 100,000 different activities relating to those cases. We have made over 3,000 home visits to reinforce isolation and provide social support for isolated people. Support was provided to 2,600 isolated households in terms of access to food, medicine and other forms of assistance.
“Working closely with other councils in Lancashire to share experiences and best practice, there were also regular opportunities for discussion with colleagues from public health and national health. We are happy to say that we have been able to find other opportunities for contact tracing staff who now work in other departments within the Council.
“Everyone at Preston deserves a huge thank you for their collective efforts throughout this pandemic, while also remembering those who are sadly lost.”
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What do you think about the end of local contact tracing? Do you think we should continue to live with Covid-19? Let us know in the comments below.
