COVID-19 outbreak management plan

The UK has been responding to coronavirus (COVID-19) since the end of January 2020. Coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 11 March 2020. The next day, on 12 March, the UK government moved to the ‘delay’ phase of its response. Greater Manchester declared a major incident on 20 March.

It has been just over a year since Salford’s first case of COVID-19. We know that throughout this time, some of our communities have felt the impact of coronavirus more than others. COVID-19 has exposed existing disparities and exacerbated historical inequalities – including the vulnerabilities of older people and care home residents, of BAME staff, volunteers and communities, and the impact on families, young people and children, and on livelihoods.

The Spirit of Salford Helpline was established in the very first days of the pandemic and coordinates our humanitarian support to vulnerable people across the city, including where necessary to provide local support to those on the government’s shielded list. We have reviewed the helpline to ensure the services are responding to the needs of our residents as the impact of the outbreak changes. The helpline will continue to support vulnerable people during the next phase of the pandemic, alongside our core services in the city and the army of volunteers that have come forward to support people in the city.

The pandemic has brought local services even closer together as a whole Salford system. A local response in Salford has been in place since the very early stages of the pandemic from setting up local testing in mid-April 2020 as a partnership across the NHS, the council and with the voluntary sector. Through the Spirit of Salford, partners have come together very quickly in ways we wouldn't have thought possible.

Examples of good practice include the individual risk assessments and health checks for frontline workers – not just at the setting or service level but also for those with different job roles, ethnicity and health conditions. As we move forward, we will be living with COVID, responding to emerging variants and we will draw further on this collaboration.

It is timely now to refresh our COVID-19 Outbreak Management Plan given the recent developments in test and trace and the roll out of the vaccine. Working together with other areas in Greater Manchester, our local systems to test, trace, isolate and vaccinate have become much better prepared and agile. Community testing has and is evolving. We will use the range of testing facilities in the lab for PCR, the rapid antigen (lateral flow device) for mass testing, and additional insights from wastewater testing to understand and break transmission in the city.

Refresh from the plan in July 2020

In early June 2020, the government asked all upper tier local authorities to put in place a COVID-19 outbreak management plan, explaining how we will manage the spread of the virus, to minimise its prevalence and the impact of coronavirus within our communities. All areas have refreshed their plans now in 2021.

This plan is Salford’s response - it sets out: the arrangements in place to prevent, control and reduce transmission of the virus; to protect the vulnerable; to prevent increased demand on health care services; and to address health protection, infection control and environmental health associated impacts which will support the city’s social and economic recovery.

Salford’s COVID-19 outbreak management plan sits alongside the Salford emergency response and recovery plan and provides additional clarity on the specific additional measures in place given the unprecedented scope and health, social and economic impacts of coronavirus.

Strong collaboration and partnership working sits at the heart of our plan, including collaboration with other local authorities and health partners across Greater Manchester – our local Salford plan sits within a framework alongside the GM COVID-19 outbreak management plan, the GM multi-agency outbreak plan, and the GM multi-agency generic response plan – together these set out how GM will support localities in delivering their health protection responsibilities.

The measures, systems and processes set out in the Salford COVID-19 outbreak management plan:

Salford’s COVID-19 outbreak management plan

We are committed to effectively and proactively managing the spread of the virus, to minimise its prevalence and the impact of coronavirus within our communities. This plan is Salford’s response – it is a whole council, whole system response. Together with people across the city we will do all we can to prevent, control and reduce transmission of the virus; to protect the vulnerable; to prevent increased demand on health care services; and to address health protection, infection control and environmental health associated impacts which will support the city’s social and economic recovery.