The Royal Borough of Greenwich contact tracing service will now follow up all positive cases of COVID-19 identified through our testing sites.

Previously contact was made by the NHS Test and Trace team. Now the Council will make contact and on the same day the case is entered into the national NHS Test and Trace system.

Once our team is alerted that someone has tested positive (usually within an hour) they will contact the resident to discuss who they have been in contact with, provide well-needed information and the support available.

It also means that we can use local knowledge to find out where residents may have caught the virus and manage any local outbreaks.

Cllr Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: “I am proud of the work we are doing to support our residents through the pandemic. In particular, the Customer Contact Centre and our Welfare Rights teams working together to contact more residents who have tested positive and quicker.

“It’s also a great example of our partnership work with Charlton Athletic Community Trust, commissioned by the Council to run the Community Hub and NHS Test & Trace to keep Royal Greenwich safe.”

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is 1 of 17 London authorities taking part in this pilot known as ‘Local-0’.

The overarching aim nationally is to reach over 90% of all cases.

This enhanced service does not include the contacts of cases – these will still be actioned by the NHS Test and Trace Service team.

More at: royalgreenwich.gov.uk/covid19tracing