Test and Trace suffers worst week ever for reaching Covid case contacts

The week broke a record. Credit: PA

Test and Trace only managed to contact less than 60% of contacts of those who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to October 28.

Overall 59.9% of close contacts were reached by the system in England, which is the lowest weekly percentage since Test and Trace began at the end of May.

The figure is down from 60.6% for the previous week.

The figures also show that 137,180 people tested positive for Covid-19 at least once in the week ending October 28.

This is the highest weekly figure since Test and Trace was put in place, and is an 8% increase in positive cases compared to the previous week.

For cases managed by local health protection teams, however, 97.9% of contacts were reached and asked to self-isolate in the week to October 28.

For cases managed either online or by call centres, 58.5% of close contacts were reached and asked to self-isolate.

Just 26.4% of people who were tested for Covid-19 in England in the week ending October 28 at a regional site, local site or mobile testing unit – a so-called “in-person” test – received their result within 24 hours.

This is up slightly from 22.6% in the previous week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had pledged that, by the end of June, the results of all in-person tests would be back within 24 hours.

He told the House of Commons on June 3 that he would get “all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that”.