AN ANGLESEY care home boss fears second Covid-19 surge because test results are too slow.

According to Glyn Williams, the owner of the Gwyddfor Care Home in Bodedern on Anglesey, critical time is being lost because test results are still taking too long to turnaround.

Anglesey is the only county in North Wales to be selected to trial the Welsh Government’s Test, Trace and Protect strategy, which involves testing people for Coronavirus and then tracing the people they have been in contact with in a bid to stem the spread of the disease.

Experts say it is vital for test and trace procedures to be completed within 48 hours otherwise it is ineffective but Mr Williams revealed it took nearly 70 hours for the result of a test - which was negative - on a member of his staff to come through last week.

Mr Williams, 57, a former RAF engineer who runs the home with his wife Mary, said: “I listened to the evidence of the UK Parliament Health and Social Care Select Committee, chaired by MP Jeremy Hunt, last week. He had a number of professionals giving evidence who explained in simple terms how fast the test and trace system needs to work for it to be effective.

“My experience in Wales is that not very many of them are turned around within 24 hours. I referred a member of my staff on Tuesday afternoon at 3.30pm for a test. It finally came through at 11.02am on Friday – that’s nearly 70 hours.

“There’s absolutely no chance the tracers could trace all her contacts within 48 hours because we are beyond that timeframe already, even before the test result has come back."

“I’m no expert but I have serious concerns we will have a second peak or another uncontrollable outbreak unless we get the Test, Trace and Protect system running within that golden 48-hour period."

Mr Williams has reached out via social media to the Minister for Health and Social Services, tweeted MS Vaughan Gething, and has asked him to produce data to confirm tests were being turned around within 24 hours but is yet to receive any response.

Mr Williams has managed to keep the home Covid-19 free through extensive infection control procedures which include a self-designed decontamination unit based on his training in nuclear, chemical and biological warfare when he was in the RAF - but he fears lifting of the lockdown restrictions in England is undermining his efforts.

Mr Williams added: “It’s very much an economically-driven strategy. They’re not giving any consideration to care homes. They didn’t give us any when we went into this pandemic and they’re not giving us any now coming out of it.

“We’re collateral damage again, this time collateral damage in the battle to recover the economy. It’s so scary.”

To compound the problems face by care homes such as Gwydfor, Mr Williams has said the financial situation was still precarious and warned he would only have to lose four residents to be operating at a loss.

Although the home has received some financial compensation and welcomes the support it has received from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Mr Williams said none of the original £40m rescue package from the Welsh Government is available for self-funded residents, only those funded by the local authority.

Mr Williams said: “What does the Government want us to do? They want providers to pass these extra Covid-19 costs on to self-funders which is absolutely ludicrous.

“Care Forum Wales has been saying for years a perfect storm is brewing, well it just turned into a Category 5 hurricane. God only knows how we’re going to get out of it. A massive investment of money is the only way to put the social care system right.”