From 14 December Torbay Council is delivering a local contact tracing service to complement the national scheme - to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and help residents keep themselves and others safe.

The local service – the Torbay Council Test and Trace Team - doesn’t replace the national one, but adds value to it by using local community networks.

In the first instance, the national NHS Test and Trace team will contact people who have tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) to give advice and get details of anyone they’ve been in contact with.

This ensures that anyone who develops symptoms of COVID-19 can be tested quickly, and helps trace close recent contacts of anyone who tests positive.

If the NHS Test and Trace are unable to contact people within 24 hours, cases will be then passed to the Torbay Council Test and Trace Team.

The Council will use local networks to make contact, give advice on keeping safe, and to get further contact details of others that people have been close contact with. This will help the NHS contact anyone who may have caught the virus and give them the care that they need.

This new local service will be active from 10am - 6pm, Monday to Friday and 10am - 2pm on Saturdays.

A phone call or text will come from the Torbay Council’s Test and Trace team, asking for peoples’ names, dates of birth and postcode, as well information about their living arrangements and recent movements, but will not ask for any payment or financial details. Anyone concerned about whether the call is genuine or not can call back on the Council’s normal customer service number - 01803 207751 to make sure.

Torbay Council Leader, Steve Darling said: “We’re committed to protecting our residents and bringing down the spread of the virus as quickly as possible, so we’re very pleased to announce this new service that will dovetail with the NHS Test and Trace scheme.

“I urge anyone who is contacted by our Test and Trace team to help them with all the information they need – but be aware of scammers! We will never ask for financial details.”

Councillor Darren Cowell, Deputy Leader of Torbay Council said:

“We’re all looking forward to a brighter, healthier future in the Bay; both for our residents and our businesses; so we need to just stay safe for now and do whatever we can to help stop the spread. This new service brings added value at a local level to the work of our wonderful NHS.” 

More details of how the local Test and Trace Team will work is available at: https://www.torbay.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/public-health/coronavirus/torbay-local-enhanced-contact-tracing/

Details about the national NHS Test and Trace service is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works