Coronavirus: How a contact tracing officer works in Ceredigion

What were you doing before you started your work as a contact tracer?

I was born and brought up in Neuaddlwyd near Aberaeron, and attended the local school at Ciliau Parc, Ciliau Aeron, Aberaeron Secondary School and then went on to the College of Further of Education at Aberystwyth to undertake a bilingual secretarial/shorthand course.

I have been an employee with the local authority since my appointment as clerk typist in the public health and housing department of Ceredigion District Council since September 1985.

Having been re-appointed to be divisional administrative officer and personal assistant to the head of lifestyle services, in May 2018 I was appointed to the post of community connector for Porth y Gymuned.

My role as community connector was to work on a one-to-one basis with individuals for up to six weeks to improve their social and emotional wellbeing, to promote independence and to reduce social exclusion, social isolation and loneliness.

How did you get into being a contact tracer?

When I read the job advert and job description for the contact tracing officer posts, I immediately thought to myself ‘I want to do this role!’

I really fancied the job and a certainty that I wanted to be part of the Covid-19 team for Ceredigion County Council.

I have always had an involvement with infectious diseases. When I started in my first role as clerk/typist, I had to log details of every infectious disease in the county.

During my role as personal assistant I followed up on infectious disease cases, contacting members of the public who had been identified as having diseases such as campylobacter, cryptosporidium, and salmonella.

These telephone conversations were sensitive in nature, asking some personal questions and completing a detailed questionnaire on the infectious disease database. After reading the job description I thought to myself the role of a contact tracer would be something very similar.

My interview was through Zoom. This was a totally new experience.

I did dress up smartly as if I was going to walk into a room although it was a matter of sitting down at the kitchen table with just my laptop. At least nobody could see my legs shaking!

None of us will ever forget the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Having been appointed as a contact tracer, I have established that it is a critical role. It provides the opportunity to make a valuable contribution and ensuring the health and safety of the residents of Ceredigion.

Describe a typical day as a contact tracer

The service operates from 8am to 8pm seven days a week and I work on a shift basis.

It is the NHS All Wales Contact Tracing database I work on. Ceredigion County Council has its own site and the database will immediately highlight new positive cases in the county throughout the working day and during the night.

I am allocated a case and work on it until it has been fully completed. I will immediately telephone the positive case hoping that I’ll get an answer. If there is no answer, and there is an option to leave a message I will do so.

A text message will also be sent informing the case that Ceredigion County Council track and trace service need to speak to them urgently and will be contacting them again later.

In the first instance when I do the initial call to a positive case, I will ask them to confirm their full name, address, date of birth, and the date of their test just to check that I am speaking to the person who has had a test.

By the time I make contact with them they have usually received their result but on some occasions I am the first person to inform them that they are Covid-19 positive. The person I contact can speak in Welsh or English – whichever language they feel comfortable.

Once I have established that I am speaking to the correct person I will ask them to confirm which symptoms they have developed e.g. cough, fever, loss of smell, etc and which dates did their symptoms start. Some positive cases have been asymptomatic and we therefore only have the date of the test to go by.

I then need to establish their exposures and locations 48 hours prior to their symptoms starting and up until the day I make contact with them on the telephone. It is vital that I gather detailed information of their household contacts, their non-household contacts, have they been to work, have they visited any shops, pubs, café’s restaurants, have they been away on holiday, etc.

I have to gather all contact names, dates of birth, addresses and telephone numbers of the people they have had close contact with. Some cases have had up to 40 individual contacts which means that I will have to upload details on 40 different persons.

A detailed report is also typed up and added to the record and all records are kept in the strictest of confidence in line with GDPR guidelines.

I will give them advice on self-isolating, which means staying at home and not going out even for shopping. They are advised to limit contact with other people in their household and to keep at least 2 metres apart at all times.

I also inform them how important it is to practice good hygiene, to wash their hands frequently, clean down touched surfaces such as kettles, taps, door handles etc. I always check and ask them how they think they will manage and cope with day-to-day tasks.

Once the list of exposures and locations is completed it will automatically be forwarded through to the contact tracing advisors whose responsibility will be to telephone those exposures and give them advice regarding self-isolating.

In some instances the team has identified positive cases which have formed a cluster. For example the cases have been linked through social gatherings or at a workplace and the role of the contact tracer becomes more of a detective role at this stage.

If we have received a dozen positive cases who have all attended the same social gathering we then need to identify the accurate background information from each individual which makes it interesting but challenging.

How do you work as a team?

The team is led by three operational leads who I report to on a daily basis.

The ability to work as a team is essential, it is important to communicate on a daily basis, to share the workload, and to share any views and ideas. The whole team have never met up in person only by communicating on Microsoft Teams Sites, e-mail or telephone. Throughout my career I have never experienced anything like it!

What do you enjoy about the work?

Since the day I commenced in my clerk/typist role in 1985 I have always enjoyed my work and have had so many different opportunities within the county council. I enjoy everything to do with the role of being a contact tracer.

The most enjoyable aspect is that every case you deal with is different. When I do my first initial call to a positive case I find that it’s so important to be asking them as soon as you have confirmed their personal details how they are, and how they are feeling.

Some positive cases have been very poorly whilst others have had milder symptoms. You will speak to a young person who has just commenced in university or an elderly retired person. Each case has such a variety of different issues, from a straightforward case up to a very complex where I have to escalate to my managers.

It is true to say that in the short period of time when speaking to a positive case on the telephone, you develop a relationship. The majority of the cases I have dealt with have co-operated and have been willing to give me a detailed account of their daily activities.

This includes who they have had close contact with and if they haven’t been able to provide me with the accurate details during the initial phone call they are more than willing for me to call them back to receive those details.

What is the most challenging aspect of the work?

The most challenging aspect of the work is to collate accurate information from each positive case, and to get each positive case to provide a truthful and trustworthy account of their contacts and locations.

I depend entirely on the information that I receive from the positive cases. It’s like completing a jigsaw - in order to have the full picture you need each piece in its place.

As a contact tracer it is important that we trace all their contacts as soon as possible. Ultimately, this will ensure that we keep the cases of the coronavirus low in the county.

I have been accused of being a scammer. This was a very lengthy and challenging call and I had to use tact and diplomacy to reassure them I was a contact tracer.

Dealing with positive cases who are limited in speaking the English language can be challenging. I have to make sure that I receive the accurate information from them and also make sure that they understand the advice and information I give them.

On occasions I have had cases who have not been informed that they have tested positive and I am the first person to be telling them. Some of these cases have been very upset on the telephone and I’ve had to comfort them and after my initial call I will make it a point of ringing them up again a day later just to check on their well-being.

This highlights how challenging it is and the importance of getting the positive cases to relay the correct information at all times.

What has the reaction been? What sort of questions people ask?

Every single case I have contacted have been most helpful and have provided the information that is required.

The positive cases with symptoms have accepted that they have to self-isolate for 10 days from when their symptoms started and anyone in the household who do not display symptoms have to self-isolate for 14 days from when the first person in the household started having symptoms.

Informing someone who has a busy lifestyle that they are not allowed to leave their home for 10 days can be challenging but they do accept the consequence and know how dangerous the Covid-19 pandemic is.

Why is your work important to the council?

My role is critical in order to protect all residents and our community in Ceredigion by helping to disrupt community transmission of the virus and breaking the chain of transmission.

I take my role seriously and take pride in collating and relaying the accurate information I receive from our Ceredigion cases. If I feel that an urgent issue needs escalating I will inform my operational leads.

Our operational leads report on a daily basis to the leadership group and if there are any issues in connection with the transmission of the virus that needs urgent attention within the county it will be dealt with immediately.

What is your main message to the people of Ceredigion?

This is a hard time for us all, this is a year like no other, and things will be different from now on. However, we’re all in this together. My main message for the people of Ceredigion is to self-isolate if they have any of the symptoms of the coronavirus.

If they have a new persistent cough, loss or change of taste or smell, or a high temperature, stay at home. Thank you for staying apart to play your part.