'Phenomenal' response to surge Covid testing in Newport
A health trust chief has praised the “phenomenal” surge testing that helped contain a Covid-19 outbreak in Newport last month.
Five delta variant cases were identified at Burton Borough School in May, resulting in a call for all people linked to the town’s three secondary schools to undergo swab tests and isolate if diagnosed.
Chief Executive Patricia Davies told Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust’s board more than 2,500 homes in and around the town were visited for testing in three days.
She added that Telford and Wrekin Council’s public health team had told her the outbreak had been well contained.
“That’s over 2,500 households in the Newport area that would have been tested over a 48- or 72-hour period," she said.
"There was been no further spread across the Telford and Wrekin area.
“That’s a phenomenal response from the public health team and our team in terms of managing that down, really good news.”
After the five cases were identified Telford and Wrekin Council encouraged staff, pupils and families linked to the school, along with Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School and Newport Girls’ High School Academy, to take a PCR test whether or not they had symptoms.
