A BOROUGH is now sending staff round to see possible coronavirus sufferers who have slipped through the national contact tracing net.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has set up its own local system to seek out residents who may have been infected after meeting someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

With the support of Public Health England it has launched a locally supported contact tracing system for the borough.

The council will use its local knowledge if the national process has been unable to contact someone.

If the national system cannot make contact with local residents after two days, their details will be passed onto the local service to help find additional contacts.

If the team can’t get through to affected residents by email, text or phone after another 48 hours then the borough contact tracing team will visit them and give them details of who to call.

The new system came started this week as the existing coronavirus test centre at Witton Park Academy moved to Audley Sport Centre.

There is another test centre on the car park near the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Residents visited by the borough contact tracing team will be given guidance on isolating for the required length of time and asked if they need any support delivered through the council’s Help Hub.

The staff will get details of individual’s ‘contacts’ and update the national  system which will try to contact these individuals.

Paul Fleming, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s director of business change who is leading the new system, said: “Test and trace is a vital part of the national strategy to get the virus under control. It is even more vital in areas like ours where we have a rising tide of cases. Our system complements the national system because we have the local knowledge of the area and the ability to send officers round to people’s addresses.

“Our system has already gone live and we are already seeing its benefits as we have managed to contact people the national system couldn’t.”

Cllr Mohammed Khan, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “Once again we see how local government, with its knowledge and connection to the local area, can rise to the challenge and deliver for our residents.”