The health minister has reiterated the Welsh Government’s confidence in “Test, Trace and Protect”, which has been described as an “early warning system” for a localised lockdown on Anglesey.

The confirmed number of workers testing positive at the 2 Sisters poultry processing plant in Llangefni has hit 200, leading to staff self-isolating and the factory’s closure for at least two weeks as employees continue to be tested.

But despite the scale of the outbreak, the Welsh Government has consistently argued that the UK’s first “local lockdown” would only be introduced if enough evidence was presented of wider community transmission beyond the workers and their households,  and that bringing in stricter measures would have a positive effect.

On Wednesday, Ynys Mon’s Senedd Member sought assurances that “Test, Trace and Protect” (TTP) would be able to identify wider Covid-19 transmission early enough, with the island being one of the first areas to initially pilot the system last month.

Rhun ap Iorwerth also reported concerns that some members of staff had been forced to wait “many days” for the result of their tests, which “undermined confidence” in the system.

But the health minister spoke of the “quick turnaround” of test results, claiming that 97%  had been returned within a day, which he described as a “high level performance.”

Mr ap Iorwerth, describing “clear concern locally” following the outbreak, welcomed a wider Welsh Government review into the safety of the food production sector and sought assurances that staff would be safe when the Llangefni plant reopens.

But the Plaid member went on to say: “In terms of the broader community, can I ask how confident is the Minister that the early warning system (TTP) is going to be able to identify broad community transference at an early enough stage so that any decisions that may be needed in terms of tightening lockdown can be made in good time?

“There is good collaboration on a regional level in terms of the trace element, but some members of staff have waited many days for the result of their tests, which undermines confidence in the system.”

The minister for housing and local government, Julie James, praised Anglesey Council’s efforts thus far, describing TTP as “working very well” and that council leader Llinos Medi had been “working very hard in difficult circumstances” but that the Government was on hand to offer any necessary support.

The health minister, Vaughan Gething, spoke of the “very high level of quick turnaround” for tests, noting that 97% of people in Llangefni had received their results back within a day.

He added that the recent outbreaks on Anglesey and Wrexham had been the “first stress tests” of a successful contact tracing system, describing it as a “real national redeployment of energy and resource, with Anglesey being supported by the contact tracing team in Swansea Bay.

“TTP has been a really important factor in containing these outbreaks to date,” he concluded.

“If we didn’t have it then we would have seen almost certainly much greater transference, not just within the workforce, but within community transmission, which we haven’t seen to date.”

Earlier this week the First Minister confirmed that he would “not shy away” from implementing any local lockdown, which could involve the delaying of Anglesey’s tourist season, “if there was any sign that the virus had seaped significantly into the wider community.”