Hertfordshire's public health boss addresses Covid testing concerns

Hertfordshire's public health chief Jim McManus personally intervened to get a 90-year-old resident a Covid test closer to home.

Mr McManus highlighted the case at a meeting on Thursday (September 10), when asked about testing capacity in the county.

The elderly gentleman had been directed to a testing centre ‘some way’ from his Hertfordshire home.

But the county’s director of public health Mr McManus said he had personally intervened so he could avoid the long journey.

“Last week I intervened to get a 90 year old man a test to stop him having to drive some way,” he told members of the county council’s public health and prevention cabinet panel.

Mr McManus said he had known there had been capacity at the centre. And he said: “. . we keep a very close eye on testing issues in Hertfordshire, because it’s important to us.”

At the meeting of the county council’s public health and prevention cabinet panel Liberal Democrat Cllr Nigel Quinton also raised the issue of Covid-19 testing for residents who did not have access to a car.

He highlighted a resident who could see the Welwyn Garden City testing centre from her home, but was not allowed to be tested there because it is a ‘drive-through’ facility.

Mr McManus told councillors he would like there to be a non-drive through facility in Welwyn Garden City, and he indicated that in some cases transport could be arranged for testing.

During the meeting, Mr McManus accepted there were issues with the testing capacity on the national system. And he said there were local plans to re-launch key worker testing.

Meanwhile it was reported that ‘contacts’ of those who test positive for Covid-19 who cannot be traced within 24 hours by the national ‘Test and Trace’ system are now being dealt with locally.

As a result, in addition to attempting contact by phone, there are now local ‘door knocking’ teams, who carry leaflets in English and relevant community languages. And Mr McManus said they now had a 91 per cent ‘completion’ rate.

At the meeting Conservative Cllr William Wyatt-Lowe highlighted the benefits of Vitamin D, and suggested moves to encourage its use more widely to mitigate against the severity if Covid-19 symptoms.

Mr McManus said that, in line with national guidance, they would like everyone who had been shielding to be taking the vitamin – particularly those in care homes. And he said he was happy to look at wider use of vitamin D.