AQW 5780/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 21/07/2020
Answered On Date: 20/08/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health when the contact tracing data published by the Public Health Agency will contain more localised information, for example by council area or postcode.

Answer:

The latest information on the number of positive tests reports to the Contact Tracing Service (CTS), is published weekly on the Public Health Agency (PHA) website - https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/covid-19-coronavirus/testing-and-tracing-covid-19/contact-tracing-service-management-information.

PHA does not comment on individual cases of COVID-19 or provide the detail of every incident that emerges, as this could lead to people being identified, create stigma, and focus attention on individuals, families or groups, and could therefore deter others with symptoms from coming forward to be tested and from complying with advice relating to self-isolation.

PHA plans to publish regular updates on regional cluster activity, reporting on larger clusters (greater than 5) by Local Authority area on a weekly basis, as outlined in their recent press release - https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/pha-cluster-assessment-shows-cases-both-workplace-and-community-settings.