Frodsham and Helsby residents who test positive for coronavirus will now be contacted by Cheshire West and Chester Council instead of the national Test and Trace service, as the local authority launches a new pilot scheme aimed at communicating test results more quickly.

The joint initiative – created in partnership with NHS Test and Trace - brings the Council in from the start of the tracing journey, at the same time that the case is entered into the national system.

Council contact tracers now contact the individual directly rather than the national service and are responsible for instructing the individual to self-isolate.

The team is also able to provide support to people who have tested positive and for members of their households who have to self-isolate – making sure people have all they need to stay indoors for 10 days.

The pilot scheme helps to ensure that the team at the Council are able to use local knowledge and expertise to determine where people may have caught the virus, which will help identify possible local outbreaks.

Ian Ashworth, Director of Public Health at Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: "Since November last year our team of local contact tracers have been working on the cases that the national NHS Test and Trace service was not able to contact within 24 hours.

"This has had a great impact already. Our local team reaches those people who are more difficult to get hold of and helps to make sure they have everything they need to self-isolate successfully and break the chains of transmission.

"Not only are our local team faster but we have seen that one in four of those they have spoken to have benefited from additional support and signposting for such help as finance, mental health and wellbeing.

"Being a part of this pilot means we can get involved from the very beginning and are able to make the most of our local knowledge to offer the right support to people, as well as spot patterns and local outbreaks."

The team prides itself on building relationships with those they contact and helping people work out what they might need to be able to self-isolate for the full 10 days, from financial support to advice on shopping.

Local contact tracer Angela said: "We're here to make sure you're ok and safe and see if there's anything you need.

"Some people don't know where to go for help but we can let them know where to go for local support while they self-isolate.

"All anyone wants is for us to get back to normal and that's the result of all of this."

Anyone in Cheshire West and Chester who tests positive for COVID-19 will be contacted by the team during their 10-day period of self-isolation and is urged to work with the service to help stop the spread of Coronavirus.

An online pack is also available to residents to help them through the self-isolation period and also to plan ahead for if they have to self-isolate.

This includes information on when and how to self-isolate, how to avoid spreading the virus at home, how to treat any symptoms and what to do if symptoms get worse.

It also includes information on financial help, wellbeing, support with shopping and caring responsibilities and even how to stave off boredom for the 10-day period.

More information is available on Cheshire West and Chester Council website.