SOUTHEND Council's success in stopping a measles outbreak last year demonstrates how track and trace schemes will be vital to avoid a winter lockdown, a public health official has said.

More responsibility for the pandemic is being handed to councils, including oversight of track and trace schemes which will see authorities contacting anyone believed to have been in contact with individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Speaking during Southend’s Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on Wednesday night, Krishna Ramkhelawon, director of public health for Southend, said the technique previously allowed the council to halt a measles outbreak in a matter of weeks.

He said: “This outbreak is now about preventing the virus from carrying on the spread. If it carries on spreading, we are likely to see another peak in the winter. It is not a secret that we could have another outbreak in the winter.

“For us, it is about managing what we are doing so we can get to a place where we are much, much stronger in reducing and suppressing this virus.

“At the end of last year, we had a measles outbreak in Southend and we started contact tracing then very, very quickly. Within two weeks we had stopped any further cases from happening. That is how important contact tracing is.”

How the council handles the virus going forward is set to be outlined in a new virus control plan which the government has said needs to be completed by the end of June.

Health and Wellbeing board members agreed on Wednesday night to establish two new health committees that will oversee the decision making.

This includes the Outbreak Control Oversight Board, which will be a public facing group led by council members. It will report to the wellbeing board and answer questions over the key decisions that are made going forward.

A Covid-19 Health Protection Board will also be established and operated by the public health team. It will be this group that makes recommendations to the council and puts together the lockdown plans.

Mr Ramkhelawon explained the most immediate work will be on identifying and mitigating the risks associated with schools going back in September.

Council chief executive, Alison Griffin, called track and trace scheme “vital” in stopping the spread of the virus and explained the purpose of the new oversight board as being be able to respond to the spread of the virus and make decisions rapidly when needed.

Despite the board’s enthusiasm for track and trace, other councillors have said they are unsure how it will work. At the end of May, Southend’s deputy leader Independent councillor Ron Woodley said he does not believe it can work.

He said: “It will be okay if you have only been in contact within the bubble of people around you but if you have been to the beach where there could be 20,000 people on the High Street, how will you do it?”

Post-lockdown mental health fears

Public health services have said they are preparing for a surge in demand for mental health services once the coronavirus lockdown is lifted.

Discussions about Southend’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic were the topic of a Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on Wednesday night, where it was highlighted that demand on mental health services is expected to rise significantly.

Sally Morris, chief executive of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), told the board that referrals to mental health services had dropped during the peak of the pandemic but this is not expected to last.

She said: “The number of referrals have gone down in a lot of our services and part of that, evidence shows, is that when you have a pandemic or something similar people have something else to focus on. Their concerns tend to be around the pandemic rather than physical and mental health.

“But as we come out of the pandemic we get a reset and we are really concerned there will be a surge in mental health demand.”

Alex Khaldi, chair of A Better Start Southend, echoed the concerns citing reports that have emerged following lockdown in China.

“We should be expecting a surge in mental health demand as lockdown begins to ease and I think the early signs are probably there,” he said.

“Some of the evidence coming out of China has shown that they experienced a similar surge post-end of restrictions in Wuhan.”