Coronavirus UK: NHS Test and Trace still missing 40% close contacts

Test and Trace is still missing four in ten close contacts as number of people notified continues to fall since its launch in May

  • 60.5% of close contacts of people who tested positive in England told to isolate in week ending November 11 
  • It is the fifth week in a row that the figure has been just above 60 per cent
  • Proportion of contacts reached fallen gradually since Test and Trace launched

About four in ten contacts of those testing positive for Covid-19 are still not being reached through the Test and Trace system.

Some 60.5 per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive in England were told to isolate in the week ending November 11, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

It is the fifth week in a row that the figure has been just above 60 per cent.

About four in ten contacts of those testing positive for Covid-19 are still not being reached through the Test and Trace system (file photo)

The proportion of contacts reached has fallen gradually since Test and Trace was launched at the end of May, when the figure stood at 91.1 per cent.

For cases managed by local health protection teams, 98.9 per cent of contacts were reached and asked to self-isolate in the week to November 11.

For cases managed either online or by call centres, 58.9 per cent of close contacts were reached.

Downing Street defended the ‘colossal’ achievements of Test and Trace but acknowledged improvements could be made. 

A No 10 spokesman added: ‘We are testing more people per head of population than any other European country and that will grow thanks to our increased testing capacity.’

Of the 156,853 people transferred to the system in the week to November 11, 84.9 per cent were reached and asked to provide details of close contacts.

Some 60.5 per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive in England were told to isolate in the week ending November 11, according to the Department of Health and Social Care

Some 60.5 per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive in England were told to isolate in the week ending November 11, according to the Department of Health and Social Care