Agenda item

Members were presented with a verbal update on the Test, Trace and Protect Service (TTP). Before providing a breakdown of the statistics and current overall picture, Officers highlighted that the figures were a snapshot in time of a very dynamic situation and that the numbers were currently increasing.

Local Figures

It was stated that in the Swansea Bay Region over the last seven days the TTP Service had received 2,604 new index cases with almost 5,000 contacts associated with those cases, and in Neath Port Talbot over the last seven days the TTP Service had received 1,124 new index cases and 2,536 contacts associated with those cases.

Officers added that the epidemiology was showing that there consistently appeared to be more contacts associated with each case in the Neath Port Talbot area than in Swansea.

National Figures

In terms of national figures, it was noted that the seven day case incidence figure identified that Neath Port Talbot was currently the highest in Wales with 697.1 cases per 100,000 population; Merthyr Tydfil was second highest with 668 cases per 100,000 population and Swansea was ranked fifth in Wales with 549.8 cases per 100,000 population.

Test Positivity Figures

Members were informed that Neath Port Talbot was ranked second in Wales for the amount of tests that were identified as positive at 25.5%; Merthyr Tydfil was ranked first with a 28.7% positivity rate and Swansea was at 23%.

Age Group Breakdown

The positive cases were stated to be predominately within the working age population (40-49 year olds and 50-59 year olds); however, in recent weeks there had been an increase in the number of positive cases within the younger age groups (10-19 year olds and 20-29 year olds) which was being closely monitored and analysed.

Clusters and Exposure Locations

The Committee was informed that there were currently 22 care homes in Neath Port Talbot with ongoing outbreaks and that there was a high level of concern over the stability of the care home sector and community care in general; due to this business continuity issues were being experienced at this point in time. It was added that there was a number of clusters in open and closed work place settings across the Country Borough.

Schools

It was highlighted that 27 schools in Neath Port Talbot had reported more than one case in the last 14 days, however this was more likely to be due to the increase of transmission in households; the evidence was continuing to show that there was not wide transmission within the school environment and that much of the transmission within the school age range was a consequence of what was happening at home and during out of schools activities such as birthday parties and sports training. It was added that although there was transmission in schools, they were generally providing a Covid 19 secure and controlled environment.

Members were informed that the TPP Service had developed strong working relationships with Senior Management within the Councils education department and regular dialogue was taking place between the TTP Service, regional Environmental Health Officers and the Head Teachers.

TTP Resilience

Officers explained that one of the main challenges at the moment for the TTP Service was the extremely high workload which was putting a strain on the service as the staff were struggling with the caseloads; the Council was seeking mutual aid on a daily basis and a national team had been set up whereby requests from Councils across Wales could be submitted, however given the demand across Wales, there was not a huge amount of mutual aid being received. It was added that the service had a finite resource in terms of staff, particularly at the regional level; staff wellbeing was also a concern due to the amount of stress and anxiety and having to deal with difficult situations.

It was mentioned that the service was currently in the midst of a rolling programme of recruitment for tracers, advisors, supervisors and data analysts; there were as many as 80 posts to be filled to achieve what would be regarded as optimum capacity, however logistically it was taking a lot of time to get the right people in the right roles. Officers added that in the interim, they were currently looking to recall staff that were previously redeployed to the service to build resilience in the short term while recruitment continued.

Due to the lack of clear steer coming from Welsh Government in relation to how to deal with the high level of cases received, Officers highlighted that a prioritisation framework was being produced in order to try and efficiently deal with the workload.

Covid 19 Enforcement

A team of Enforcement Officers were noted to have been recruited, working respectively with teams including the TTP Service, Environmental Health and the Councils Licensing department to ensure the public and business premises were complying; Officers were receiving a lot of positive feedback in terms of that particular group of staff. It was added that the Council and affiliated services were also working closely with the Police to ensure that a coordinated response was delivered.

Communication

In terms of communication, it was noted that the service was working closely with the Council’s Communication Team to deliver the current message that individual behaviour was key; the evidence showed that it was lack of compliance of individuals in the home and social settings which was driving up the numbers locally and across Wales. Officers were concerned with the lack of compliance with self-isolation requirements, which was making mitigation measures difficult to develop and implement. The tone of the communication to the public was mentioned to have been recently changed in order to try and challenge people to deliver on their levels of responsibility.

In relation to the Covid 19 enforcement teams, it was asked if Officers could provide examples of the types of action the teams have had to undertake. It was explained that once the regional Environmental Health Officers had gathered intelligence of where there were cases and clusters of cases emerging, they would coordinate with the Enforcement Officers, who would then go out into the community to discuss with the identified workplaces and premises what measures they had in place, to make them aware of what they should be doing, and checking if they were complying with what they should be doing; essentially the Enforcement Officers link up with what the intelligence was showing as the cases emerge and go out into the community to be visible and hold those premises to account.

Members asked that due to the current high levels of cases in Neath Port Talbot, had consideration been given to introducing asymptomatic testing that had recently been implemented across some other Councils in Wales. It was stated that all options had been considered, including community wide testing, however it was not currently seen to be a solution within the local context. Currently testing demand in Neath Port Talbot was significant, with the testing facility in Margam beyond 100% capacity and the mobile testing units similar; Officers were currently looking at potential ways to build upon testing capacity within the area. Members were informed that the Incident Management Team (IMT) had been meeting several times a week looking at the latest data and intelligence in regards to the way in which the virus was behaving in the community, they would then review the control measures that were currently in place for the whole approach being taken across the region including with communications and enforcement; the IMT would then make recommendations about any further actions that needed to be considered in light of the most recent intelligence. As mentioned, mass testing had been considered within the IMT, however currently the expert advice received from Public Health colleagues was that the mass testing would not help to bring the current size of the problem under control and would stretch the resources that were needed to target at other measures, including supporting the mass vaccination process going forward. Assurance was provided to Members that the control measures were looked at several times a week by a number of people who were involved in the process; a number of points including the need for further restrictions, in order to try and bring the number of cases under control, had been raised with Welsh Government.

It was asked if it could be considered that schools transfer to distanced learning in the lead up to Christmas as even though the number of cases in schools was small, it had the potential to spread to more people which would result in larger groups of individuals having to self-isolate close to the Christmas period; it was speculated that some parents would choose not to send their children to school in the upcoming week due to these reasons. Officers clarified that they had to take the epidemiological advice in this matter and needed to secure the right balance, to ensure the decisions made were in the interests of all pupils including those who were most disadvantaged and vulnerable. It was noted that some pupils would be engaged with the distanced learning activities, however they would be others who would not participate in them; there was also the need to secure pupil equity and safeguarding considerations must also be in the forefront of thinking. Members were informed that Officers were meeting with the Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, later on in the afternoon and will need to await the outcome of that meeting; however, at the moment it was intended that all schools in Neath Port Talbot would close on Friday 18^th December. It was added that there was also a need to understand, fairly quickly, what the opening arrangements would be in January including how these plans would fit in with a whole Wales policy and strategy on seeking to suppress the virus.

Officers were asked to clarify the decision making process behind the schools opening and closing schedule in line with the evidence being received locally in terms of positive cases in schools, as other local authorities had made their own decisions as to when they would close for Christmas. It was stated that it would be desirable to have a consistent approach across Wales in regards to opening and closing arrangements; however Officers have had to take all factors into consideration, including the possible risks of having a very large amount of children not in schools, to make a balanced decision. In regards to evidence, it was highlighted that there was a protocol in place whereby when a Head Teacher becomes aware of a case in the school they would get in touch with someone in the regional TTP Service; this was effective as it helped the process move more efficiently, as Head Teachers were essentially the first people to be aware of a positive case within schools and waiting for an indication from other informants such as TTP could take some time. Following this, the regional Environmental Health Officers would make a decision as to what extent pupils and staff needed to self-isolate based on the evidence, also taking into consideration the type of contact made and the size of the bubbles that the school had in place.

Members requested that the Communications Team put out information in regards to the risks of holding community events in the lead up to Christmas, as it had been noticed that some smaller communities with the County Borough were planning and advertising Christmas events. Officers noted Members comments and stated that they would inform the Communications Team of this request. 

In relation to testing, it was queried as to why further resources weren’t being brought in immediately to assist in the demand. Officers stated that options were being considered as colleagues in the Health Board and Public Health Wales were consistently looking at testing capacity locally, looking at how this could be increased. It was added that the Leader and the Chief Executive were currently meeting twice a week with the Health Board and different options were being actively considered; Officers stated that as the position changes, they would provide Members with regular updates.

It was agreed that the Head of Planning and Public Protection (Ceri Morris) would circulate a briefing note to Members which would include the main points of the TTP Service update.

The Committee thanked all those who had worked and were currently working in the Test, Trace and Protect Service.

Following scrutiny, the update was noted