Coronavirus: Contact tracing in Wales to be phased in from 1 June

Plans to trace the contacts of people who receive a positive coronavirus test result in Wales will roll out from next Monday.

Ministers want to restart contact tracing as a way to help ease Wales out of lockdown.

People who have been in close contact with those who have tested positive will be asked to self-isolate.

Contact tracing pilots have been running in four health board areas since 18 May.

However, the 1 June date comes despite a council leader warning it could be two weeks before the new system for tracking and tracing cases can be up and running.

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Andrew Morgan, leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), suggested on Sunday the IT system to support it would be ready by "the first or second week of June".

The scheme is separate from the English system, which will start on Thursday.

Capacity for 9,000 tests a day

Meanwhile testing capacity in laboratories in Wales - which process tests from drive-in centres, hospitals, and care homes - has risen to more than 9,000 a day, Mr Gething said.

That has gone up from around 5,000, although the most recent Public Health Wales figures show 2,206 tests took place on Tuesday.

The Welsh Government says it expects to have capacity for 10,000 tests a day "in the near future".

Wales is also part of a UK-wide home testing scheme, which on Wednesday was extended to the under-fives.

Testing capacity in Wales has increased since the start of the pandemic

A statement from Health Minister Vaughan Gething said the Welsh Government would "implement contact tracing on a phased basis"

"From 1 June, we will implement population contact tracing on receipt of a positive test result," he wrote.

Asked by BBC Wales what phasing-in meant, Mr Gething said as lockdown measures are eased "we obviously will have to be undertaking more activity".

The contact tracing pilots have already been running in four health board areas - Hywel Dda, Powys, Betsi Cadwaladr and Cwm Taf Morgannwg - since 18 May.

The Welsh Government says it will learn from the experiences in each area.

Drive-in testing centres are being used across the UK

How will it work?

Under previously published plans it will involve:

• identifying people with symptoms consistent with Covid-19, allowing them to be tested while isolating

• tracing other people who have been in close contact with them

• making sure if a person tests negative, they and their contacts can get back to normal routines

Mr Gething said contacts of people with symptoms will only be traced if they test positive.

That is because only 12% of tests are returning a positive result.

If everyone with symptoms was subject to contact tracing it "could result in many people being asked to isolate when there is no positive case", he said.

Previously published plans estimated that 1,000 staff will be needed, with councils and health boards all involved.

Contact tracing was used in Wales earlier in 2020 until it was halted in March, prior to lockdown.

According to the statement, the future relaxation of lockdown measures is dependent on everybody following the advice set out in the test and tracing strategy.

It says the approach must have "continued and widespread" public support so that people stick to public health guidance.

The Welsh Government says scientific advisors will also consider what impact the recent addition of anosmia, or a loss of taste, to the list of symptoms will have on its testing plan in the future.

But the policy remains - anyone who shows symptoms of Covid-19 should continue to self-isolate along with their immediate household.

There is likely to be a big increase in demand for tests as the plan is phased in from the start of June.

In response the Welsh Government says testing centres currently being used for critical workers will be opened up to the public.

But there is an acknowledgement the scale of testing needed in Wales and across the UK as lockdown measures are eased will be "unprecedented".