HEREFORDSHIRE Council "detectives" who track down people who are not self-isolating when they should be have featured on a BBC TV show.

The council's outbreak control hub tries to track down people who have tested positive for coronavirus, as well as the people they have been in close contact with.

While a national NHS team deals with the majority of contact tracing, there are occasions where they cannot reach people. Sometimes this can be down to simple mistakes where people put the wrong contact details in, but programme host Gethin Jones said some people do avoid calls.

In an interview with BBC show Morning Live, test and trace technology officer Cat Whiteaway said there was always a "sense of urgency" as they don't know if the person is "wandering around" and making more contacts.

Hereford Times: Kym Marsh and Gethin Jones, hosts of Morning Live. Picture: BBCKym Marsh and Gethin Jones, hosts of Morning Live. Picture: BBC

She said: "We are asked to try and find those people, speak to them and make sure that they understand they need to self-isolate. That's where I step in basically."

"We've got access to council tax records. I might check the phone book, if we know where they work, we can contact their place of work.

"We might contact their GPs, or if there's a parish newsletter they might have won a prize for flower giving, we have had an incident of that.

"We're looking to see which one of those is going help us find this person, speak to them, and let them know everything that they need to know to help them self-isolate.

"Hopefully it will help break the chain of transmission of this virus."

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She said the work of the team was similar to that of a detective, as they try to work out where the positive case has been, and who they have come into contact with.

The council said it offers as much support as possible to make sure they do self-isolate.

Herefordshire's acting director of public health Rebecca Howell-Jones said the work of the outbreak control hub can make a difference.

"Sometimes just that local telephone number or that local contact, that local email address, makes a difference as to whether somebody will respond or not," she said.

"People are grateful for the information we are able to provide them with, and locally we're trying to make sure that they, their close contacts, and their community are safe."

The programme, broadcast on Wednesday morning and available now on BBC iPlayer, also showed how the council sends teams out to knock on doors.

Morning Live, hosted by Kym Marsh and Gethin Jones, is described by the BBC as a "lively and entertaining mix of topical content and expert advice".

It's on BBC One at 9.15am on weekdays.