Issue - meetings

[To provide a high-level summary of activity in support of the Wolverhampton COVID-19 Outbreak Control Plan, including allocation of grant.]

John Denley, Director of Public Health presented the COVID-19 Strategic Coordinating Group Update Report and highlighted salient points. The report provided a summary of recent progress relating to the delivery of the local COVID-19 Outbreak Control Plan.

In addition to the information contained within the report, it was highlighted that there had been work undertaken to open two more testing sites and that Wolverhampton was one of the 66 local authorities across the country that would be using the emerging lateral flow testing technology. It was noted that the new method yielded results in 15 minutes without the need for a laboratory. The roll out was currently under development in terms of the practical application of the testing and how it could be applied in various settings, for example how it could be used to periodically test care home or hospital workers.

It was acknowledged that the roll-out of the new vaccine would be the next long-term goal however, until this happened, it was important to continue to adhere to the key messages to prevent the spread of the virus.

In response to a query around whether the test could be self-administered, it was clarified that a clear clinical governance framework would need to be in place to ensure the test could be administered safely therefore ways of achieving this were being explored.

Resolved:

That the content of the COVID-19 Strategic Coordinating Group Update Report be noted.

[To provide a high-level summary of activity in support of the Wolverhampton COVID-19 Outbreak Control Plan, including allocation of grant.]