Coronavirus swabbing to be carried out in homes as Leeds Council prepares new measures

Coronavirus swabbing to be carried out in homes as Leeds Council prepares new measures

Healthcare professionals are set to undertake coronavirus swabbing in people’s homes, according to a report from Leeds City Council officers.

The report added authorities have prioritised a catering service for vulnerable people who are self isolating, as well as calling on government to detail measures around coronavirus impact as laid out in last week’s Budget.

As part of a six-point strategy currently being created by both council officers and health experts, it also added arrangements were in place to help many council staff work remotely.

The updated document will be discussed by senior Leeds city councillors at Wednesday’s Executive Board, as members are set to be updated on the city’s contingency plans against the virus, officially known as Covid-19.

As part of plans to mitigate health impacts, the report states there was ‘close work’ being done with Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust when dealing with possible cases of coronavirus in communities.

It added: “This means healthcare professionals undertake swabbing by going into people’s homes. There is regular staff briefing and business continuity planning in the event that large numbers of staff are required to stay at home.

“Leeds Teaching Hospitals and GPs are also developing services in line with national plans, which might mean changes in the coming weeks.”

The report also looked at the ‘possible disruption’ to the supply chains of council services, adding: “The response plan identifies three areas of priority at this stage – catering services (eg. school meals/food provision to the vulnerable if required because extensive numbers are self-isolating), cleaning services and personal protective equipment. Actions are in place to respond to these issues.”

In his budget last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced £30m worth of contingency measures on coronavirus, but the council has called on these measures to be filtered down to local authorities sooner rather than later.

The document added: ” Once the detail is available of the schemes announced in the Budget, the council will be promoting and potentially administering these, in conjunction with West Yorkshire Combined Authority where appropriate. We are pushing for these to be delivered at pace so that

businesses feel the benefit.”

“It’s critical that we have the right people and systems in place to ensure we can adapt our public services to cope with the complexities of the emerging pandemic. We have many years’ experience of productively working together across organisations in Leeds and those partnerships will be crucial to keeping the city running as best it can in these circumstances.

“These are challenging times but be assured we are doing everything we can to prepare. The welfare of all our citizens is our main concern and we will be prioritising looking after the most vulnerable and focusing more than ever on keeping our key front-line services operating.”