Councils stress need for local systems to stop Covid spread

by LAUREN CODLING

LOCAL councils have emphasised efforts to communicate with ethnic minorities about the NHS Test and Trace plan, as some experts raised concerns that many communities may not trust the system and will not engage with it.

The NHS Test and Trace plan has been rolled out across the country in recent months to track and halt the spread of Covid-19. However, experts have warned that some ethnic minorities may be reluctant to engage with the system due to financial worries, a lack of communication or general distrust in the programme.

Some have argued that a local Test and Trace system should be implemented, with the former chief scientific advisor Sir David King claiming the NHS Test and Trace was “not fit for purpose”. Several cities across England are planning to set up their own local schemes. Bradford Council, for instance, agreed a local test and trace programme was vital in “breaking the chain of transmission”.

In London, the director of public health for Newham Council, Jason Strelitz, told Eastern Eye that local systems could “have a huge impact”. “It is important that we work as effectively as possible within the national system, but make it work as effectively as possible for our residents,” Strelitz said. “We don’t want to duplicate stuff that is going on – that won’t help our residents – but we do need to make sure that those systems that are being developed at a national and regional level do work really effectively. For now, we are focused on augmenting those systems.”

A number of concerns have also been raised about people avoiding the plan, as they fear they will have to stay home and therefore will lose their salary. According to the Trades Union Congress, there are around 1.87 million employees in the UK who do not qualify for statutory sick pay.

Baroness Dido Harding, head of the NHS Test and Trace programme, has previously voiced her unease over the lack of financial support for people who may need to take time off work.

Strelitz admitted doubts had been raised by local community members relating to a loss of wages if they were required to self-isolate. According to him, Newham Council had been working to communicate the issues to ministers. The council also helped to set up a Covid-19 support service, which offers financial support to individuals who may be struggling, he said.

“We have created a hardship fund support scheme so if there are people who, for financial reasons, struggle to take those public health measures of testing and self-isolating, then that shouldn’t be a barrier,” he explained. “We are trying to do what we can locally while trying to influence national policy as well.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan wrote to chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Matt Hancock last week, relaying worries that the current system does not provide adequate support to those who must self-isolate, putting them and their communities at risk.

There has also been apprehension that some communities may miss out on vital communication or guidance relating to the scheme, due to language barriers.

Dr Justin Varney, director of public health for Birmingham City Council, said it was important that language did not become an obstruction in being able to protect individuals from Covid-19. “Everyone needs this information to save lives and stop the spread of this disease,” he told Eastern Eye. “This is why the council has been proactively translating materials and working with community organisations to ensure the life-saving messages reach every community in the city”

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson confirmed they had worked to promote Covid-19 guidance in multiple languages on their website. In order to reach all its communities, Newham Council has set up the Covid-19 health champion network. More than 250 volunteers regularly keep in touch with the council via WhatsApp and Zoom to find out the latest information and health advice. Strelitz, who set up the scheme, said he believes information has “flowed better” to communities who may be harder to reach.

“We know as a council we can’t reach everyone, so that is why we set the champions up,” he explained. “If we can have 250 people in the community who engage every week with us, they have strong networks in the borough so we can cascade the information out there and it feels like that is really happening. It is difficult to know the overall impact it has had, but it feels like that information is starting to flow out much better.”

Strelitz also confirmed that the health champions would be helping to spread awareness about the pilot NHS Test and Trace app, which was introduced in the borough last week. Newham is one of the first areas to have access to the app.

A number of other councils told Eastern Eye that they were taking measures to ensure all communities would be able to obtain relevant guidance and advice relating to the NHS Test and Trace plan. A spokesperson for Ealing Council confirmed to Eastern Eye that they were developing a network of resident groups who would deliver coronavirus messages and ensure that the information being received by local communities was “accurate, factual and up to date”.

A Manchester City Council spokesperson told Eastern Eye ensuring the right health and safety messages were given to all communities in the city was a “key focus”. The council has worked with a number of faith organisations, including the Manchester Council of Mosques, to reach ethnic minority communities, they said. The spokesperson confirmed the council translates public advice into 12 languages through their in-house languages team. This includes advice in Urdu, Bangla, Punjabi and Gujarati.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care last week (DHSC), the proportion of the contacts of positive Covid-19 cases reached by England’s NHS Test and Trace system had fallen. It said 4,642 positive cases were transferred to the system in the week to July 29, of whom 79.4 per cent were reached and asked to provide their contacts.

An estimated 19,150 people were identified as coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive and of these, 72.4 per cent were reached and asked to self-isolate, a decrease from 76.2 per cent in the previous week, it said.

The DHSC said the decline was partly due to local health protection teams handling outbreaks.