“VITAL” outbreak management in St Helens has not been as “effective as it could be” due to incorrect data, the borough’s director of public health has said as the infection rate reached another grim milestone.
Almost 16,000 positive Covid-19 cases stretching back to September 25 were not included in Public Health England’s (PHE) daily figures until the weekend.
While PHE said those who tested positive for Covid-19 still received their results in the normal way, the error meant there was a delay in informing the people they came into contact with.
READ > 292 missing coronvirus cases added to St Helens' total after IT error
This has now sparked fears that thousands of people who should have been self-isolating have been carrying on with their daily lives as usual.
After discovering the issue overnight on Friday, PHE included the missing data in the 12,872 new cases reported on Saturday and in the 22,961 cases reported on Sunday.
In St Helens, a total of 292 were added to its cumulative total over the two days.
PHE has blamed the blunder on a “technical issue”, however, it is understood that an Excel spreadsheet used to collect the data reached its maximum file size, preventing new names being added in an automated process.
All cases were passed on to tracers by 1am on Saturday, with a massive operation now underway to track close contacts.
Sue Forster, director of public health for St Helens Borough Council, said: “We are working tirelessly to support the national track and trace service by using our own local intelligence and knowledge to help us find and isolate those at risk.
“The data we receive is also crucial to help us look at trends and has helped us to target resources such as mobile testing units or local interventions based on these figures.
“These new additional cases mean that this vital work has not been happening with the correct data to make our hard work as effective as it could be.
“We already knew we were dealing with significant community transmission but we did not have a clear picture of just what we were facing to make timely decisions to keep people safe.
“The key function of test and trace is to swiftly isolate anyone at risk to reduce the spread of the virus.
“Our biggest concern is that there will have been people in our communities who should have been isolating who could have been incubating the virus for at least a week and potentially infecting others too as they went about oblivious of the risk due to this error.
“We have to hope that we will not see a knock-on effect in our already high rate of infection.”
Data from the council’s public health team published today – which includes the missing PHE figures – shows there were 546 new cases between September 27 and October 3.
This equates to an infection rate of 303.3 per 100,000 population – up from 212.2 a week earlier.
Many areas across the borough have seen a rise in positive cases in recent weeks, in-line with regional and national trends.
According to the public health data, Thatto Heath recorded the highest infection rate between September 27 and October 3, with a rate of 458.7 per 100,000 people, from 60 cases.
This was followed closely by Sutton, which had an infection rate of 395.7, from 47 cases.
Today’s public health data does not include the additional cases added by PHE on Sunday, meaning the next set of figures will likely show another steep jump.
Cllr Anthony Burns, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for public health, leisure, libraries and heritage, described the testing error as a “catastrophic mistake”.
The Labour councillor also questioned whether people who did test positive have been made aware, although PHE insists they have been informed as normal.
Cllr Burns said: “It doesn’t get any better from this Government does it? This is a catastrophic mistake that could impact the lives of many of our residents.
“How can we be confident that those missed off the list have even been informed of their results? These are people’s lives we are talking about, not just a name on an Excel spreadsheet.
READ > St Helens Labour MPs respond to latest testing 'fiasco'
“This is another example of the Government’s woeful handing of track and trace. Many people in St Helens are angry and feel let down by the Government.
“I’m grateful that we have strong leadership locally and through the outbreak management board and support of our public health officers, MPs and cabinet colleagues we’re doing all we can to share accurate, clear information with residents and businesses.
“We’re doing our bit – Government need to do theirs.”
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