A NEW Wales-wide team of contact tracers is being set up to deal with localised coronavirus outbreaks.
Health minister Vaughan Gething said the new National Surge Team would work centrally, but could be deployed to areas where contact tracers needed extra support.
The Welsh Government's Test, Trace, Protect system relies on each council area in Wales largely taking responsibility for tracing the contacts of people who have tested positive for Covid-19.
MORE NEWS:
- Abertillery man's Mount Everest climb for mental health awareness
- Dozy Blackwood drug dealer took cocaine to police interview
- Council to introduce newer traffic light system for Usk
On Friday, Mr Gething said he was "tremendously grateful" to Wales' contact tracers who are "making a difference right across the country".
But there are "challenges" with contact tracing in some parts of Wales as case numbers have increased, he added.
The new National Surge Team would likely be based within the contact-tracing team in the Cardiff and Vale area, the minister said.
Extra people are being recruited for the Wales-wide surge team.
"If a team finds it's got a surge and it needs extra capacity [for contact tracing].... we'll have a national team that we can deploy to do that," he said.
"The key advantage of that is because these people have worked with each other, and there's an understanding of where local services are, it's developed lots of confidence in the public.
"We'll have the ability to deploy more rapidly to support those local teams that are under pressure."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here