Owl’s reading of the responses to this pandemic point to the critical need to contact trace and test, test, test. 

Although this is something we abandoned very early on (with disastrous consequences), it looks a racing certainty that it will have to be re-introduced as part of any exit strategy. Local authority environmental testing staff should have been involved at the outset, but weren’t.  It looks like the government is dithering yet again. “Not my responsibility” Gov, honest!

Simon Clarke says contact tracing is ‘not’ his responsibility

Alessandra Scotto di Santolo  www.express.co.uk

The Local Government Minister was confronted by BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme host Nick Robinson on the offer of help sent by environmental officers to councils across the country to cope with coronavirus testing. But as Mr Clarke refused to take responsibility for the issue, the BBC host blasted the Minister over the unhelpful bureaucracy stalling the Government’s coronavirus efforts.

Mr Robinson asked: “I want to ask you about something for which you do have direct responsibility. Testing, as you know, is pretty pointless without contact tracing afterwards.

“If somebody is found to have symptoms you really want to find out who they’ve been in touch with and to isolate them.

“Have you, as Local Government Minister, spoken to councils yet about using the 5000 council environmental officers who are used to this sort of contact tracing and using them in this endeavour?”

To which Mr Clarke replied: “That falls under the agents of the HFC – the future contact tracing – we haven’t taken responsibility for that role.

“Our focus is very much on financial offers for local authorities, on shielding for the extremely vulnerable, on making sure that our councils are resilient financially in the face of this crisis.

“So contact tracing doesn’t fall under my ministerial portfolio.”

At this point, the BBC host blasted: “But isn’t this a problem of silos once again.

“There are 5000 environmental workers who have, I’m told and their institute says, offered to help contact tracing. This is what they do. This is what they understand.

“Public Health England only have about a couple of hundreds, they have 5000 potentially.

“And what you’re saying to me is ‘well, it’s not my responsibility’.

“Nobody is taking up these offers of help, are they?”

A consignment of personal protective equipment being collected by the RAF from Turkey will be in the UK “in the next few days”, Mr Clarke also confirmed.

But asked whether it had left Turkey yet, he said: “I can’t speak to that, I’m afraid. All I know is it set off last night.

“It will be with us obviously in the UK in the next few days, which is the core priority.”

Mr Clarke said there is a “standing presumption” that the Government will do its utmost to buy PPE “wherever it can be sourced” and urged manufacturers to “reach out” to the Cabinet Office to log their ability to make equipment.

On testing, he said the Government is working to ensure more key workers are eligible to have the tests so “every possible slot is filled” but admitted it is an “enormous challenge”.

“We are doing our very best to make sure that we hit that target.”

The Tory Minister said it is “highly unfair” to suggest that the Government’s ambition to reach 100,000 tests by the end of the month is not “empirically grounded”.

“We are absolutely determined across the whole of the UK to hit this target,” he said.

“As I say, we are going to move from 26 current testing facilities to 50. That will in turn obviously bring those centres closer to more people and make it more viable to go there.

“We’re increasing the groups of key workers who can go and be tested.”

He added: “I really do think it is unfair to suggest that we have continued business as usual. It has not been. It has been an extraordinary response that has saved lives and saved jobs, and I think on both counts we’ve done a lot of good work which is standing us in good stead.”