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The leader of Bridgend council says residents should comply with Wales’ new Covid-19 contact tracing service after more than 80 contacts were found in early June.
Huw David, leader of Bridgend County Borough Council, urged locals to “fully engage” with the Test Trace Protect (TTP) programme, which traced 82 contacts in the borough from June 01 to June 14.
He said: “We want to thank our residents and businesses for taking part in this vital scheme which will help us break the transmission of coronavirus and enable people to start getting on with their lives, to see their loved ones, and rebuild their livelihoods.”
The TTP programme is a Welsh Government programme which aims to increase the number of Covid-19 tests in Wales and keep track of the number of people who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.
The programme launched on June 01 and aims to slow the spread of coronavirus by testing people with symptoms and contacting anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.
The latest figures show 29 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Bridgend county borough from 01 June to 14 June.
This resulted in 82 contacts being traced and of 79 those contacts were successfully notified.
Independent Alliance leader Norah Clarke said it was “great to see” the number of contacts traced through the programme in the first fortnight.
“I would certainly see that contact rate as a success.
“A 100% contact rate would be wonderful but practically hard to achieve.”
Cllr David said: “We know that the majority of new Covid-19 cases in Bridgend county borough were linked to care homes or NHS staff and that there were very few cases in the general population.”
There were 544 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Bridgend out of a total population of 147,049 as of June 18 with 86 coronavirus-related deaths registered by June 05.
“If you have any symptoms that can be attributed to Covid-19 speak with your doctor who can advise whether you need to take a test or not and if you need a test to take it as soon as possible”, said Cllr Clarke.
“I think that time is of the essence. It is so important if residents are out and about that they remember where they’ve been and any contacts they’ve had in order for those people to be traced.”
The TTP service is being carried out by local authorities and NHS staff.
A workforce of around 1000 people will be used to trace contacts across Wales.
The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Wales is 1,471 as of June 18.
So far 117,321 individuals have been tested for Covid-19 in Wales with 102,351 testing negative.
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