The success of England’s test-and-trace system has fallen to a new low, with fewer than 60% of the close contacts of people with Covid-19 being reached and people waiting nearly 48 hours for test results – double the target.
The 59.6% close contacts figure for the week ending 14 October was down from the previous week’s figure of 62.6%, which was the lowest since the £12bn test-and-trace operation was launched at the end of May.
For cases handled by local health protection teams, 94.8% of contacts were reached and asked to self-isolate, but for those handled either online or by call centres the figure was 57.6%.
Contacts graphic
The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said in May that at least 80% of contacts must be reached for the system, described as “world-beating” by the government, to be effective. Documents published last week show Sage considers its success to be “marginal”.
The latest figures, published on Thursday, revealed continuing delays in getting results back, seen as critical for contact tracing. For in-person tests – local test sites, mobile testing units and regional test sites – just 15.1% were received within 24 hours in England, compared with 32.8% the previous week. Boris Johnson had pledged that, by the end of June, the results of all in-person tests would be back within 24 hours.
The median time taken to receive a test result at regional sites rose to 45 hours, from 28 the previous week. Local test site result times increased to 47 hours from 29, and mobile test units rose to 41 hours from 26.
For satellite test centres – private labs helping to increase testing capacity for hospitals and care homes – 22.3% of results were received within 48 hours, slightly up on the 21.1% in the week ending 7 October.
Test result waiting times — graphic
The Department for Health and Social Care bulletin said: “There has been a downward trend in the percentage of in-person test results received within 24 hours since the end of June when 94.3% were received within this time frame.”
The figures increase pressure on the government over shortcomings in the performance of test and trace, which experts claim has contributed to the rapid spread of the virus during the second wave of the pandemic. Criticism has been amplified by the fact that private companies, such as Deloitte and Serco, have been paid vast sums to provide the service even though some scientists say it is not fit for purpose.
Reacting to the latest figures, Dido Harding, the interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “Reducing turnaround times is our absolute priority to make sure we are reaching people as soon as possible. We always need to balance ensuring as many people as possible can get a test alongside ensuring test results are delivered as quickly as possible, and as capacity continues to grow at pace, we expect to see improvements.”
The number of people testing positive during the week ending 14 October was up 12% compared with the previous week, to 101,494. That is equivalent to a weekly positivity rate of 7.1%, up from 0.9% in the week ending 26 August.
Of the 96,521 people transferred to the contact-tracing system in the latest week, 77,892 (80.7%) were reached, 17,141 (17.8%) were not reached and 1,488 (1.5%) had no communication details.
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