Covid variant surge testing 'ready to go' in Bracknell Forest

That’s the claim from the council’s top public health chief, who told the News that no Brazilian or South African variants have been detected in the borough throughout the pandemic.

Despite this, Charlotte Pavitt said preparations had been made should one of the foreign variants be identified.

Covid

She said: “The process is in place, as it is across the country. When they're [individuals] symptomatic to get tested, they are randomly allocated for genomic sequencing to explore whether there's any local variation, and to date, there's been none in Bracknell Forest.

“And the process is that when that is identified, and there's no travel to explain that, that's when the surge testing that you've perhaps read about in other areas will be implemented.

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“So we've got our plans already in place. So should that happen, we're ready to go. But to date, there's none within the borough.”

Surge testing is essentially an increased level of testing that involves door-to-door testing and enhanced contact tracing in areas where covid-19 variants have been identified.

Surge testing in Bracknell Forest is 'ready to go' should a variant be found

It involves testing asymptomatic people and is deployed when variants cannot be traced back to international travel in order to monitor and suppress the spread of the virus.

The Brazilian variant (known as p.1) and the South African variant (known as b.1.351) are mutations of the original virus.

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There is no evidence they are more deadly, but according to the BBC, could be more contagious or easy to catch.

Ms Pavitt said the council was in “constant discussion with Public Health England about all of our cases, and the transmission and the patterns of transmissions that are happening locally.”

NUMBERPLATE PIXELATED BY PA PICTURE DESK Surge testing in Stoke Gifford after two cases of the Brazilian variant of coronavirus were identified in South Gloucestershire. Picture date: Monday March 1, 2021. PA Photo. Officials have identified the first UK

At a local outbreak engagement board meeting in December, councillor Marc Brunel-Walker whether there needed to be clearer ‘stay at home’ messaging in the borough given the ‘fair number of South African residents in Bracknell Forest.

Asked by the News if this variant was a particular concern because of this local population, Ms Pavitt said it wasn’t.

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She added: “It all comes down to travel related to those variants of concern. So whilst those individuals were originally born and bred in South Africa, it doesn't really increase the risk of transmission, it would be purely based on travel patterns.

“And with the travel restrictions that are in place, it doesn't make any odds.”