Minutes:
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 18th
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