NHS Test And Trace Reports Worst Contact Tracing Figures Since It Launched
Boris Johnson’s hopes of a “moonshot” mass testing for Covid-19 have suffered a fresh blow after his flagship NHS Test and Trace programme posted its worst ever figures for contact tracing.
The PM’s independent scientific advisers have repeatedly warned that stopping the spread of the disease requires more than 80% of “close contacts” of people with Covid reached by the system to be identified and then told to self-isolate.
But figures for the latest weekly update show that just 69.2% of those “close contacts” – defined as being within two metres of a Covid carrier for more than 15 minutes – are actually being reached.
The statistics, for the week between August 28 and September 2 show a fall on the 69.4% of the previous week – and are the lowest weekly percentage since the service launched in May.
Testing turnaround times are also well short of the 100% within 24 hours target set by Johnson, with an average of just under 63% of in-person tests meeting that deadline. Times for home testing and ‘satellite’ care home testing fell again.
In line with the spike in cases reported in recent days, the figures for the week to September 2 showed a huge jump in positive tests, with a 43% increase week-on-week.
On Wednesday, the prime minister pinned his hopes for a return to normality in the UK on a “moonshot” plan to get millions of instant tests to the public for daily updates on their Covid status.
Under his proposal, which has been met with heavy scepticism by even his chief scientific adviser, those who test negative would then be free to go to work, the theatre or sports events.
With the public facing lengthy delays and an acute shortage of local testing availability, critics have suggested the government focuses its time and money instead on improving NHS Test and Trace.
Many people who tried to access a test on Wednesday were met with an error message telling them to try again, and warning them not call the helplines.
And on Tuesday, Sarah Jane...
