Tracking team fails to follow up half of cases

Contact tracers say they have no work to do, but the Government claims poor figures are out of date

Laura Donnelly and Mike Wright FEWER than half of those whose details have been handed to the NHS test and trace scheme because they are at risk of coronavirus have been contacted, leaked documents suggest.

The system launched last Thursday with 25,000 contact tracers recruited in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Since then, there have been claims that many workers have been left with nothing to do, with the Health Secretary saying that it was right that the system had “more capacity than we need” so it could respond quickly.

Last night, a leaked report on the operation of the scheme showed that 4,456 confirmed cases had been reported to test and trace up until Sunday. Of those, just 1,831 had filled in a form providing information about their contacts, with 4,634 names handed over. Just 1,749 of those had been contacted, according to the report seen by Channel 4 News.

Under the system, anyone with symptoms of coronavirus is asked to book a test immediately. If found to be positive, they are asked to hand over details of anyone with whom they have had close contact. These people will then receive a text, email or phone call telling them to enter self-isolation for up to 14 days – and to book their own test if symptoms develop.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the figures were “outdated”, but last night officials refused to provide up-to-date data.

Hours earlier, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, had been rebuked by the UK’S statistics watchdog over providing inadequate data on coronavirus testing. The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) stated that the data were “widely criticised and often mistrusted”.

Sir David Norgrove, chairman of the UKSA, said the data published by Government were “still far from complete and comprehensible”. He criticised the way the figures were presented at the daily Downing Street briefings, with the headline total including not only the tests carried out but also those which have been posted out for home testing, but not yet conducted.

On Sunday, ministers boasted that they had hit their target to have capacity for 200,000 tests a day. But, Sir David

said: “The testing statistics still fall well short of expectations.

“It is not surprising that given their inadequacy, data on testing are so widely criticised and often mistrusted.”

Widespread computer failures on the day the test and trace scheme was launched meant many contact tracers were locked out of the computer system that showed them the numbers they had to call.

Yesterday, staff – some of whom started work last Thursday – told The Daily Telegraph they had still not made a single call.

Experts have repeatedly warned that unless contacts are reached quickly, the scheme will make little difference.

Last week, modelling for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies warned that a three-day turnaround from testing a person to tracking down their contacts would only cut infection rates by 15 per cent.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the figures in the leaked report were now out of date.

He said: “These figures are outdated and fail to reflect the huge amount of work already under way, with thousands of people already contacted in just a matter of days and their contacts successfully traced.

He added: “We are working with the UKSA to finalise the most useful information to publish on its performance and will be providing weekly updates shortly.”