Dear Lady Harding

COVID – 19: TEST AND TRACE

You will have recently received a communication from Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, referring to this subject.

Our Unison Section in Hampshire is affiliated to the NPC and we share the views and concerns expressed in the message that they sent to you. Coronavirus is a force of nature which predictably has taken a disproportionately heavy toll in lives amongst the elderly. As to whether some of these deaths could have been avoided, this is not, I suggest, a question for today.

We applaud any efforts made to curb the advance of the Coronavirus but reiterate Jan Shortt’s concerns that the majority of pensioners do not have smart phones or computer access.

We join the NCP in expressing the hope that when the final version of this system is developed you are able to extract maximum projection from the Test and Trace system for the majority of pensioners who do not have access to either smart phones or computers.

Yours sincerely

Christopher O’Neill

Chair, Hampshire Unison Retired Members Section