Displaying items by tag: track and trace

A study of the test-and-trace system found that fewer than one in five people with Covid symptoms request a test, and few follow full self-isolation rules. The report also found only half of people knew the main Covid symptoms. Its authors said, ‘With such low rates of symptom recognition, testing, and full self-isolation, the effectiveness of the current UK test, trace, and isolate system is limited.’ Men, younger people, and those with young children were less likely to self-isolate, as were those from working-class backgrounds, people experiencing greater financial hardship, and those working in key sectors. Common reasons for not fully self-isolating included needing to go to the shops or work, a medical need other than Covid-19, to care for a vulnerable person, to exercise or meet others, or because symptoms were only mild or got better. However, while adherence to the rules had been low, ‘some improvement has occurred over time’.

The big debate over the past few days has been whether it is safe to open schools to children other than those of key workers or classed as vulnerable. Many are saying, ‘We need to get children back into education, but a locally managed approach using testing and tracing is the only way.’ There will never be ‘no risk’. In a world where Covid-19 remains present in the community, it is about how we reduce that risk, just as we do with other kinds of daily dangers, like driving and cycling. To judge whether schools are safe enough to open, there need to be data with which to make informed decisions. Pray for concurrent accurate monitoring to be developed at local levels to tell us what the daily number of new cases and rate of transmission is. May actual, reliable numbers be what drives policy.

On 20 May Sir Keir Starmer asked the Prime Minister why there had been ‘no effective’ attempt to trace the contacts of those infected with Covid-19 since 12 March when tracing was abandoned. Mr Johnson replied, ‘We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and yes, it will be in place by 1 June.’ He added that 24,000 contact tracers had already been recruited. The government does not have the luxury of testing and piloting this behind the scenes for months to come, so the system will have to evolve as it goes. On 21 May the NHS said, ‘Time is running out to finalise a “track-and-trace” strategy that would avoid a potential second surge in coronavirus cases.’