Wigan residents who fear they have coronavirus are encouraged to get tested

More tests are being carried out as health bosses try to prevent the spread of the virus, particularly in the “areas of intervention” where there are concerns about infection rates.

This includes Wigan, which is now in its second week of a ban on households mixing indoors, along with people living across Greater Manchester, parts of east Lancashire and West Yorkshire. Preston was added to the areas with restrictions on Friday.

Local Conservative MPs have expressed their frustration at these tighter restrictions but the leader of Wigan Council, Coun David Molyneux, has urged them to focus their attention on the health and well-being of residents and to direct their concerns to the government.

Residents in these areas are being urged to get tested if they do not feel quite right or if they are worried they could have caught coronavirus, in an effort to stop it spreading further.

If the result is positive, the NHS Test and Trace system can then be used to contact anyone who people have been in contact with.

The system has been used to contact just under 250,000 people since it was launched two months ago.

There are teams working at both local and national level to contact people who have tested positive, with the national system contacting 79.4 per cent.

They then contact people they have spent time with, the majority of whom are family members.

If they have been near other people, such as if social distancing measures were not observed in a pub, the landlord would be asked to provide contact details of other customers and staff.

The Test and Trace partnership with local authorities is now being expanded, after an announcement by the Government this week, to reach more people testing positive and their contacts.

It will give local areas dedicated ring-fenced teams from the national service, who will focus their work on specific areas, alongside the relevant local public health officials, to provide a more tailored service.

If the dedicated national team cannot make contact with someone in a set period of time, the local public health officials can use the data to follow up, which in some pilot areas has involved local authority teams and voluntary partners visiting people at home.

It has already been successfully used in Blackburn with Darwen, Luton and Leicester and is now being offered to all upper tier local authorities who are responsible for public health locally.

Prof Kate Ardern, director of public health at Wigan Council, said: “An effective test and trace system is key to managing and containing Covid-19.

“Locally, we have had a robust system in place for years as this is the bread and butter of public health. However, additional resource is always welcomed and we look forward to being able to protect more of our residents thanks to support from the national service.

“To ensure an effective test and trace system in Wigan borough, we now have a new drive-in testing centre on Chapel Lane car park, where residents can be tested if they present symptoms of Covid-19.

“We continue to encourage residents to observe social distancing, good hand hygiene and to wear face coverings so we can continue to minimise the risk of transmission.”

Executive chairman of NHS Test and Trace, Dido Harding, said: “NHS Test and Trace is one of the largest contact tracing and testing systems anywhere in the world and was built rapidly, drawing on the UK’s existing health protection networks, to stop the spread of coronavirus. At the height of the pandemic we ensured the system had extra capacity in place to cope with potential peaks in the virus.

“We have always been clear that NHS Test and Trace must be local by default and that we do not operate alone – we work with and through partners across the country. As we learn more about the spread of the disease, we are able to move to our planned next step and become even more effective in tackling the virus.

“After successful trials in a small number of local areas, I am very pleased to announce that we are now offering this integrated localised approach to all local authorities to ensure we can reach more people in their communities and stop the spread of Covid-19.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who was previously MP for Leigh, has this week launched a campaign calling for workers asked to isolate by the Test and Trace system to be paid.

He is leading the Time Out To Help Out campaign with Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region, plus the General Secretary of the TUC, with backing from Unison, GMB, Usdaw, Unite and CWU as well as businesses.