GLIMMER OF HOPE AS DEATH TOLL FALLS
Hancock launches app to ‘hunt down’ virus as UK edges closer to easing lockdown
MATT Hancock last night raised hopes of lifting the Covid19 lockdown in many parts of Britain as deaths fell to their lowest level since March.
The Health Secretary said an NHS app to hunt down the virus will be tested on the Isle of Wight from today.
If it is successful the whole nation will be asked to use the phone tracker.
The move could soon lead to a targeted approach to social distancing rules that will get Britain back to work. The announcement by Mr Hancoock came as experts hailed a consistent decline in the number of hospital admissions for
coronavirus and deaths from the disease.
Experts have said 60 per cent of the population or more will need to download the app for it to work well.
Mr Hancock said: “I’m grateful to the huge enthusiasm shown by islanders who know that by participating in this pilot they’re at the forefront of getting Britain back on her feet.
“Where the Isle of Wight goes,
Britain follows.”
The number of virus deaths announced yesterday fell to 288, the lowest level since March 29.
And in another positive development, the Government announced that London’s temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital is to be mothballed because of the drop in new infections.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman hailed the move as a “positive thing” showing the progress of the national effort against the bug.
The new NHSX app trialled on the Isle of Wight will use bluetooth technology to monitor people’s contacts with anyone suspected of having the virus.
Those who download it can tell the NHS if they are suffering from symptoms.
Officials can then rapidly recommend that those recorded as being in contact with potential sufferers go into quarantine.
Whitehall insiders say the move will mean that as lockdown measures are eased in the coming weeks, any fresh outbreaks can be tackled with local restrictions rather than a second national lockdown.
Speaking at the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Mr Hancock said: “Over the last month we’ve built a national testing infrastructure capable of over 100,000 tests a day. Today, the capacity stands at 108,000.
“This means we’re now in a position to start implementing the next part of our plan: track and The is to hunt down and isolate the virus so it’s unable to reproduce. Crucially test, track and trace allow us to take a more targeted approach to lockdown while still safely containing the disease.
“Creating this system is a huge national undertaking of unprecedented scale and complexity.”
An army of human contact tracers who can man phones, find the contacts and support people is being recruited to help the effort.
Mr Hancock said of the 288 death toll: “That figure is lower than at any point since the end of March.
“But as with testing, these reported figures tend to be lower over the weekend so we do expect that number to rise.
“And remember, this is not just a number – it is a constant, insistent reminder that we must go further and faster in our national effort in dealing with this virus.”
But at the same briefing, deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam warned that the number of new coronavirus infections was still concerning.
He said: “The new cases need to come down further. We have to track this index and we have to get cases lower.”
Prof Van-Tam said there were fewer hospital admissions throughtrace.
out the country. He said in almost all areas there were consistent declines “which is absolutely going in the right direction”.
But he cautioned: “It’s highly unlikely that the Covid-19 virus is going to go away, therefore testing and contact tracing is going to have to become part of our daily lives for the future.”
Prof Van-Tam indicated progress was being made on at least two of the Government’s five tests for lifting the lockdown.
He said: “The first test is around NHS capacity and we’re in a good position on that one.”
The second test is about a “sustained and consistent fall in daily deaths from coronavirus”.
Prof Van-Tam said: “It’s now very clear in the data that we are past the peak.
The five tests are: NHS must have sufficient critical care capacity; there must be a sustained and consistent fall in daily deaths; the infection rate must be decreasing to “manageable levels”; there must be enough PPE and testing supply; and any adjustments must not lead to a second virus peak which could overwhelm the NHS.
Mr Hancock told the 140,000 Isle of Wight residents: “By downloading the app you are protecting your own health, you are protecting the health of your loved ones and the health of your community.
“I know that the people of the Isle ofWight will embrace this with enthusiasm because by embarking on this project and by embracing test, track and trace you will be saving lives.”
But he said the trial did not mean the end of social distancing measures.
Earlier Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the NHS Nightingale Hospital in London’s ExCel conference centre was being put “on standby” with no patients.
In a briefing to staff, hospital CEO Charles Knight said: “Thanks to the determination and sacrifice of Londoners in following the expert advice to stay home and save lives we have not had to expand the Nightingale’s capacity beyond the first ward.
“It is likely that in the coming days we will not need to be admitting patients to the London Nightingale, while coronavirus in the capital remains under control.”
Ministers are due to review the current measures by Thursday.
While the current restrictions are not expected to be lifted, the Prime Minister is expected to set out a road map on Sunday which sets out the next steps.
Mr Johnson said on Twitter yesterday: “We will only be able to move on to the second phase of this conflict if our five tests have been met.
“The worst thing we could do now is ease up too soon and allow a second peak of coronavirus.”
Whitehall officials hope that lockdown measures can be eased across the UK at the same time, something that would require the agreement of the devolved administrations.
Once the quarantine and social distancing measures are eased a test, track and trace programme which uses a specially-developed app would help monitor outbreaks of the virus.