COVID-19: Contact Tracing

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 20 May 2020.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:27, 20 May 2020

Thank you for that series of questions, Delyth. I'll do my best to answer them. I'm aware of the Ceredigion situation, of course, and Ceredigion have worked very hard to get that in place. They are amongst the many authorities that are building on and rapidly growing the contact-tracing expertise that's already existed in our local authorities and health boards and it's at the very heart of our test, trace and protect strategy. 

The reality is that the national plan will only work if we make full use of existing local knowledge, skills and expertise, and that has, as you rightly say, been built up over many years within the health protection teams of our local authorities and health boards, specifically in environmental health arrangements. That's exactly the approach that we are taking in Wales. We are very proud of our local authorities and their local expertise. I'm acutely aware that they will need our full support and that the resource implications are likely to be high. We are very committed to providing the resources that are necessary to do that. 

We've been working in close partnership to identify the full cost implications, and further advice and guidance will be issued when we have come to the end of that piece of work. All our health board and local authority partners have responded with determination and commitment to operationalise the tracing plan, as set out in the test, trace and protect plan.

Delyth will know—I know because I've had conversations with her about it—that I have a regular phone call with all of the leaders in local authorities in Wales and, later this week, I will be talking to them again. I am aware that, in the call this morning—which I wasn't part of, but I am aware that, in the call this morning, everyone expressed satisfaction with the way that it's going so far and continues to commit to the engagement that we have in rolling out the small-scale contact tracing trials that are under way in four of our health boards.

I'm not in a position to answer about the app as that's within Vaughan Gething's portfolio, but I'm sure that we can get an answer around that. However, I can say this about it: we are very determined to root this in our local communities and in their local knowledge and expertise. The app, I'm sure, will be assisting in that, but it will certainly not be the only solution.