Test and trace system leaves 26,000 contacts untraced in the North West

New analysis by the Labour Party has revealed that the Government’s disastrous test and trace system has failed to reach almost 250,000 close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England.

The failures of the system mean tens of thousands of people who were in close contact with someone who tested positive were not reached and told to self-isolate last week. In the North West, the worst-affected region, over 26,000 people were not contacted.

Keir Starmer has called on the Government to introduce a circuit break to tackle the second wave of Covid-19 by getting on top of testing and handing over control of track and trace in the North West to local authorities.

A contact is defined as someone who has come into close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. Reaching 80% of close contacts is considered one of the key means of slowing transmission of Covid-19.

Yet Labour’s analysis shows that the Government's contact tracing is going backwards across England, with just over half of close contacts (57.7%) reached last week. For the first time since the weekly test and trace figures were published, Labour found that the 80% target was missed in every single local authority and English region.

The revelations raise further questions about the UK's tracing system, already under scrutiny due to the Conservative Government's decision to design a centralised, privatised system contracted out to Serco and Sitel. SAGE minutes from 21 September published this week highlight how the billions of pounds put into the test and trace system has only had a “marginal” impact on slowing infection rates.

With some local councils reaching almost 100% of contacts, Labour has called for contact tracing to be handed over to them as part of a two-to-three week circuit break – designed to reverse the trend of infections and hospital admissions and “to rectify some of the mistakes the Government has made”.

Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said:

“We are at a decisive moment in our efforts to tackle coronavirus, and these figures are a new low for a test and trace system on the verge of collapse.

“Tests are taking too long, leaving NHS and keyworkers vulnerable. And the abysmal contact tracing system has failed to reach a quarter of a million close contacts of people with the virus. The Government is wasting hundreds of millions on a system that doesn’t seem to function or even use basic common sense.

“We are beyond the tipping point with the test and trace system. Without our local councils working day in day out to pick up the pieces, contact tracing would have all but collapsed.

“The Prime Minister must act now to reverse this trend. That is why Labour is calling for a short, sharp circuit break to fix testing, protect the NHS and save lives.”

Notes

• On 18 August, the Government began publishing weekly regional breakdowns of test and trace data. The data contains cumulative totals of cases passed to the tracing system and those reached from 28 May until the preceding week in which the data was published. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nhs-test-and-trace-statistics-england-weekly-reports
• ‘Non-complex close contacts’ are those traced by the Government’s online and call-centre contact tracing system. ‘Complex cases’ are those handled by local health protection teams. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-test-and-trace-statistics-england-methodology/nhs-test-and-trace-statistics-england-methodology
• Complex cases – traced by local teams – have a contact rate of 97.6% since test and trace was launched, in comparison to just 60% of non-complex cases traced by outsourced Government providers Serco and Sitel.  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926828/NHS_T_T_data_tables_w19.ods
• The most recent data for non-complex cases – covering the period 28 May to 7 October – shows that almost a quarter of a million contacts (245,481) of people who have tested positive have not been reached:

28 May to 7 October 2020: Cumulative non-complex close contacts identified:

Source: NHS Test and Trace weekly reports

• In the week ending 7 October, almost 80,000 contacts of people who tested positive were not reached:

30 September to 7 October 2020: Non-complex close contacts identified:

Source for comparison: NHS Test and Trace weekly reports 28 May to 30 September

• Regional analysis shows that in every region last week, thousands of close contacts of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 failed to be traced and told to self-isolate:

• On 9 Septemb​er, Boris Johnson said that Operation Moonshot“would allow people to lead more normal lives, without the need for social distancing". https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/coronavirus-restrictions-england-latest-boris-johnson-moonshot-plan-covid-19-testing-641491  

Labour’s analysis shows that in the four weeks after the Prime Minister’s statement, contact tracing rates declined in 116 local authority areas (77%)

Week ending 07 Oct 2020: