{"id":48929,"date":"2020-10-29T17:37:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T16:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=48929"},"modified":"2020-11-04T17:57:40","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T16:57:40","slug":"it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/","title":{"rendered":"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Local authorities can fully engage with local communities to combat covid-19<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New and better ways to manage covid-19 must be adopted in the UK as soon as possible, and may well be needed for several years to come. Lockdowns are a blunt instrument, whether local or national, short term circuit breakers, or longer term lasting months. Their use is essential sometimes, but has severe implications for the economy and a negative effect on the wellbeing of local populations. Effective contact tracing is a much finer instrument enabling index cases to isolate and contacts to quarantine while those not affected can carry on working, attending school and socialising. The latest Independent SAGE report clearly outlines how a Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support (FTTIS) service could be resourced and run by local authorities<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The UK government\u2019s response to the threat of covid relies on a privatised national call centre-based contact-tracing service and smart phone apps<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. More tried and tested ways of dealing with infectious diseases, such as working with primary care and established local authority public health systems, have been side lined. It is welcomed that central government has acknowledged the importance of involving local government,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> but rhetoric must be followed by urgent action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The evaluation of a pilot study<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and work with local communities in Sheffield have found that for local initiatives to be effective and sustainable there has to be meaningful community involvement. &#8220;Ear to the ground&#8221; organisations can help identify community needs with regards to testing, contact-tracing and the practical and financial support measures required for self-isolation.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is crucial to recognise that communities have different needs. For example, communities with a high concentration of people from ethnic minority groups, will have very different resources and different requirements from neighbourhoods where there is a high concentration of university students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sheffield Community Contact Tracers (SCCT) worked successfully with Heeley Trust, a community organisation<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, to demonstrate the effectiveness of a local contact-tracing scheme run by volunteers and a group of retired public health doctors and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">GPs<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Community organisations, including those specifically for ethnic minority groups and other seldom heard communities, should be able to expect a realistic allocation of financial support to undertake this work in a sustainable way. In Sheffield, SCCT has delivered a rolling programme of &#8220;Covid Confidence&#8221; sessions to communities that would previously have been labelled &#8220;hard to reach.&#8221; &#8220;Covid Confidence&#8221; will enable trusted people to counter the misinformation and conspiracy theories which are increasingly prevalent. Building community level confidence could enable &#8220;Covid Street Champions&#8221; to be embedded in every community. These are the locally trusted people who can work alongside local contact tracers providing a Find Test Trace Isolate Support service<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Local authorities and community organisations have the ability to identify high-risk areas such as places with high density housing or where employment requirements might pose a specific risk. Their knowledge can also help detect localised outbreaks early before significant spread has occurred. Holistic support for communities is critical in maintaining morale and ensuring that the measures required to control infection are sustainable in the long term. Moral support and encouragement cannot easily be delivered by smart phone app or remote call centres. People, perhaps older people and those whose first language may not be English, may need help accessing support services and navigating their way through digitally-based systems. These very local initiatives need funding and training to build up capacity.\u00a0 Local authorities need to work closely with voluntary sector organisations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although we have made the argument that local authorities and community organisations play a critical role in infection control, working alongside national support measures is equally important.\u00a0 For example, national legislation and appropriate allocation of funding is required for cash-payments for workers who have to self-isolate. Furlough measures that protect employment need to be instigated nationally. Community organisations however, can play an important role in monitoring the implementation of these measures by local employers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Threats of \u00a310,000 fines and police gaining information from the national track and trace service is giving the wrong messages from government and are likely to lead to less community engagement with managing covid. As the numbers of covid infections continue to rise again, especially in the poorest sectors of society, the need to get this right is more important than ever. The signs are that covid will be with us for many months and possibly several years. Gearing up local authorities to provide a FTTIS service will never be too late, but should happen as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Paulina Ramirez<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Researcher and Lecturer Birmingham University, Sheffield resident<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Jack Czauderna, <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">former GP Sheffield<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Tom Heller<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, former GP Sheffield<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Tim Woolliscroft<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Janet Harris, <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Honorary Senior Lecturer, ScHARR University of Sheffield.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Paul Redgrave<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, former Director of Public Health<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Andy Jackson<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, manager <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heeley Trust Sheffield<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Ian Drayton, <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CEO SOAR Community Trust Sheffield<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Lucy Melleney,<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> CEO Darnall Wellbeing Sheffield<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Maddy Desforges,<\/strong> CEO Voluntary Action Sheffield<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>:\u00a0 No competing interests<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Local authorities can fully engage with local communities to combat covid-19 New and better ways to manage covid-19 must be adopted in the UK as soon as possible, and may [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-bloggers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Local authorities can fully engage with local communities to combat covid-19 New and better ways to manage covid-19 must be adopted in the UK as soon as possible, and may [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-29T16:37:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-04T16:57:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/10\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-29T16:37:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-04T16:57:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":834,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Guest writers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/\",\"name\":\"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-29T16:37:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-04T16:57:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg\",\"width\":540,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\". A drive-through testing facility for NHS staff only in the car park of IKEA Wembley. Coronavirus testing for NHS staff. IKEA Wembley. Picture by Mark Thomas\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/29\\\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\",\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BMJ\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing - The BMJ","og_description":"Local authorities can fully engage with local communities to combat covid-19 New and better ways to manage covid-19 must be adopted in the UK as soon as possible, and may [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2020-10-29T16:37:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-04T16:57:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":540,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/10\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"BMJ","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BMJ","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/"},"author":{"name":"BMJ","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe"},"headline":"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing","datePublished":"2020-10-29T16:37:05+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-04T16:57:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/"},"wordCount":834,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/10\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg","articleSection":["Guest writers"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/","name":"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/10\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-29T16:37:05+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-04T16:57:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/10\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/10\/coronavirus_NHS_Testing.jpg","width":540,"height":350,"caption":". A drive-through testing facility for NHS staff only in the car park of IKEA Wembley. Coronavirus testing for NHS staff. IKEA Wembley. Picture by Mark Thomas"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/10\/29\/it-is-not-too-late-for-local-authorities-to-start-leading-contact-tracing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It is not too late for local authorities to start leading contact tracing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe","name":"BMJ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BMJ"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}