COVID-19: Contact Tracing

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:30 pm on 20 May 2020.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:30, 20 May 2020

There we are. Okay, thank you. Reinforcing the statement by the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association that tracking and tracing coronavirus cases in Wales is a mammoth task, and councils would need significant additional resources for the vital work, Welsh Conservative local authority leaders told me yesterday that they seek clarity from the Welsh Government on its 'Test Trace Protect' programme and the commitment to fully resource this. In stating that it wants the programme operational by the end of May, the Welsh Government has acknowledged this would require significant resources and said some 1,000 staff would initially be needed, including people working for local authorities. Alongside specially-trained council public protection officers and partners in health, other non-clinical staff will need to be either recruited or redeployed. How do you therefore respond to the statement made to me by local authority leaders that if the Welsh Government does not totally commit to fully financing its 'Test Trace Protect' strategy, some local authorities will be crippled?