Lockdown could be eased as peak ‘hit’
THE Government will introduce contact tracing at “large scale” as a way of easing lockdown restrictions, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said, as he told MPS the UK had “reached the peak” of its Covid-19 outbreak.
Mr Hancock said he was confident the country was at the peak but stressed that continued social distancing was needed to bring the number of new cases down.
He told MPS, many of whom joined the Commons session remotely: “We are ramping up our testing capacity and our capacity for contact tracing in a matter of weeks.”
Shortly afterwards, the Department of Health said 18,100 patients had died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 763 from 17,337 the day before.
Scientific experts and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt have pressed the Government for more details on mass testing and contact tracing, which is a key route out of the UK lockdown. By finding those who are infected with coronavirus and tracing their contacts – and isolating both – routes of onward transmission of Covid-19 can be slowed until a vaccine is found.
Mr Hancock told MPS the expansion of testing capacity “was ahead of plans” and the number of people eligible for testing was being expanded.
“And as we have reached the peak, and as we bring the number of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large scale,” he said.
However, the latest Government figures showed less than half the testing capacity was used in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday. Capacity stood at 41,398 but only 18,206 tests were carried out over the period in England, Wales and Scotland.
Mr Hancock said the Government was working “closely with some of the best digital and technological brains” on the contact tracing app, which is in trials. He said: “The more people who sign up for this new app when it goes live, the better-informed our response will be, and the better we can therefore protect the NHS.”
Asked what the current level of Covid-19 was in the general population and when test, track and trace (which includes contact tracing) could be brought in, Mr Hancock said: “The current level of incidence is unknown until we expand testing further. But it is far, far higher than where it needs to be, though we are at a peak.
“We have high confidence that we are at a peak in this disease, but obviously we need to see that come down.
“It’s a question of degree. The fewer new cases, the more effective test, track and trace are as a way of keeping the disease down, and therefore the more of the social distancing measures can be lifted.”
He stressed that the Government was working to build the “capacity for that very large style contact tracing”.
He agreed that contact tracing professionals would need to be used for test, track and trace alongside the app, adding: “That way we can control this virus.”