Coronavirus: Two further West Sussex cases

It's been confirmed the two new coronavirus cases in West Sussex are part of a family cluster of four people with the disease. According to West Sussex County Council, the latest people in the county diagnosed with COVID-19 are neither GPs nor health workers, but both are adults. Public Health England is reported to be making "good progress" in tracing contacts of the family concerned, who are being given specialist advice. With Surrey County Council, a joint statement from the two local authorities was issued on Sunday (March 1). The document contained a message co-written by Anna Raleigh, director of public health for West Sussex County Council, along with her colleague at Surrey County Council, Ruth Hutchinson. They said: "We are working closely together and with Public Health England and the NHS to make sure everything possible is being done to protect people in our respective counties and minimise the spread of the virus. "We’re receiving regular updates from colleagues at Public Health England who are already making good progress in contacting anyone who has been in close contact with the individuals to provide them with advice about what to do if they start to feel unwell, and how to manage if they are told to self-isolate. "This work is a key way of minimising any risk to them and the wider public and while this is fast-moving situation we would like to reassure everyone that our county councils and health colleagues are well-prepared and doing all we can to minimise the chances of further cases. "Anyone who is not contacted directly by Public Health England should continue to go about their life as normal but take extra care to follow public health advice on simple steps we can all take to help reduce the risk of infection." Speaking on behalf of Public Health England, its acting regional director for the south of England, Dr. James Mapstone, added: "PHE is providing specialist advice to local authority partners around two confirmed cases in Surrey and two in West Sussex. "The four cases are part of an adult family cluster. "We are aware of the people they have been in contact with and we are making contact with those people to issue appropriate advice and steps to take if they start to feel unwell." Background West Sussex County Council also issued further information relating to its knowledge of how COVID-19 cases are being tackled. The local authority said: The confirmed cases are not GPs or health workers. Contact tracing is underway and that includes testing some people. It is not surprising that a GP surgery has closed for cleaning as that is part of the primary care guidance. The tracing and managing of contacts who have had significant exposure to confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus is being co-ordinated by Public Health England. The process starts with a predetermined list of information being collected on each patient. This includes details of any places visited following the onset of symptoms or, in the case of travellers, since they arrived in the UK. This is either done by the clinician caring for the patient or in conjunction with them. Translation services will used if needed to ensure the information is as accurate as possible. Information is also collected about significant contacts – those people in close contact with the case while symptomatic, such household members, fellow travellers etc. Using the available information, all close contacts of the case will be assessed and either categorised into high or low risk. All contacts will be provided with health advice about symptoms and given emergency contact details to use if they develop symptoms in the 14 days after the exposure occurred. Those considered to be at higher risk will have a verbal assessment of their health and their health will be monitored on a daily basis and they will asked to self-isolate. Should any of the group report symptoms they will be assessed and offered testing in line with current guidance. PHE recently used contact tracing successfully in Brighton to track all known cases and prevent any further cases. West Sussex County Council has also issued a statement detailing preventive measures in which it says it's co-operating. We ensure that someone with coronavirus doesn’t put others at risk by treating them in isolation and carefully investigating who they had close contact with through contact tracing. Contact tracing is a fundamental part of outbreak control that’s used by public health professionals around the world. If a person tests positive for coronavirus, we speak to the patient to identify anyone who has had close contact with them during the time they are considered to be infectious and go all out to find these people as soon as possible. Once we have contacted them we can then give them the advice they need. If they are in groups considered to be a higher risk, we make sure that we follow up with them daily to see how they are. If they become unwell we are then able to assess them quickly and take appropriate action. The County Council referred to National Health Service information about dealing with COVID-19, and preventing its transmission. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ More Radio is continuously dedicated to providing a quality news service on-air and online, reporting local stories that matter across Sussex. 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