Latest track and trace data shows high success rate – Public Health Wales points to issue where minority are ‘reluctant to share details’

Welsh Government have published new data and a new report giving insight to the processes taking place to manage and monitor the pandemic in Wales, while Public Health Wales call out a minority in Rhondda Cynon Taff where people have been ‘been reluctant to share details’.

The Test Trace Protect (TTP) system is based off people who receive a positive result engaging with the process, by reporting their recent contacts to the local contact tracer so that they can be contacted and notified to self-isolate (and take a test if they too are displaying symptoms), to help stop the spread of the virus.

The latest Test Trace Protect figures have given an update to the start of the month, stating that for the week prior, between 23 and 29 August:

• of the 237 positive cases that were eligible for follow-up, 228 (96%) were reached and asked to provide details of their recent contacts
• of the 867 close contacts that were eligible for follow-up, 759 (88%) were successfully contacted and advised accordingly, or had their case otherwise resolved

|In total, since 21 June:

• of the 1,476 positive cases that were eligible for follow-up, 1,360 (92%) were reached and asked to provide details of their recent contacts
• of the 4,610 close contacts that were eligible for follow-up, 4,101 (89%) were successfully contacted and advised accordingly, or had their case otherwise resolved

The majority of cases not eligible for follow-up by local contact tracers occur in closed settings such as hospitals, care homes and prisons. These cases are escalated to regional teams for onward management.

Close contacts cases “otherwise resolved” covers a small number of instances where the same contact is identified by multiple positive cases concurrently. On these occasions, contact tracing teams will work from a single record relating to that contact and mark the additional records as resolved.

In the most recent Public Health Wales statement issues elsewhere in Wales have been referenced, with Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taff being two areas of concern, with 113 and 78 new cases in the last two weeks in those places.

Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “There has been a significant rise in positive coronavirus cases in Caerphilly in the past week, and our investigations indicate that a lack of social distancing by a small group of people of all age groups, in a range of different locations has resulted in the spread of the virus to other parts of the population.”

“It appears that as lockdown restrictions have eased, people have taken advantage of the greater possibilities for activities, but they seem to have forgotten the importance of social distancing – resulting in possible transmission in the wider community.

“It is clear that the virus spreads more easily in indoor settings, and people should take extra care to socially distance in these cases to keep themselves and their friends and families as safe as possible.”

“We are aware of a small number of COVID-19 cases in Porth and Penygraig in Rhondda Cynon Taff. Where clusters of cases are identified, Public Health Wales, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board work with local partners to implement our planned response.

“Test Trace Protect teams are working with those affected and contacting those people who have been in contact with a person who has tested positive. A proportion of the positive cases in this incident are from the young adult age group and disappointingly, some have been reluctant to share details of where they have been and who they have been in contact with.”

“By not giving the Test Trace Protect teams accurate information, these people are placing their own family members and friends at risk. We are urging them to think about other members of their communities, put simply, they are risking other people’s health and other people’s lives, especially if they are symptomatic, not staying at home and mixing in the local community.

“As we move through the recovery phase of the Coronavirus pandemic, we expect to see clusters in different settings, as with the incidents described above. We manage any clusters of Coronavirus appropriately, including by providing advice around infection prevention and control, and by supporting contact tracing where required.

“We remind the public and business owners that Coronavirus is still circulating in the community.”