Coronavirus UK: Contact tracing scheme launches TOMORROW

The UK’s coronavirus contact tracing programme will launch tomorrow without its centrepiece NHS app as experts warned it will not be a ‘silver bullet’ which kills off the disease.  

The NHS Test and Trace system for England will see anyone who develops symptoms told to self-isolate and get tested, with the close contacts of those who are found to be positive for the disease then told to quarantine for 14 days even if they are not sick. 

Boris Johnson announced the roll-out of the scheme during an appearance in front of the Liaison Committee this afternoon amid concerns that without the app the Government could struggle to tackle the spread of the disease. 

The Prime Minister admitted the UK’s testing capability was underpowered at the start of the outbreak because the ‘brutal reality’ was that the UK did not ‘learn the lessons’ of previous pandemics.  

Insisting self-isolation would only be an imposition for a ‘tiny minority’, he added: ‘I would just say to everybody that it’s worth it because that is the tool that other countries have used to unlock the prison. That captivity for a tiny minority for a short time will allow us gradually to release 66 million people from the current situation.’  

Health Secretary Matt Hancock then used the daily Downing Street press conference to announce that coronavirus tests will be made available to everyone with symptoms, even the under fives.

Testing capacity is now at 161,000 a day, he said, but the latest numbers showed that only 117,000 were carried out today while photographs showed some drive-through testing sites were empty.

The Government is pinning its hopes of ending the nationwide lockdown on the success of the test and trace scheme. 

But it will go live tomorrow, earlier than the June 1 launch date which had been anticipated, without the NHSX coronavirus app which digitally records close contacts and will massively speed up the contact tracing process.

Dido Harding, executive chair of NHS Test and Trace, today claimed the app is just the ‘cherry on the cake, not the cake itself’ but ministers had wanted the technology, currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight, to roll out nationwide in the middle of this month. 

But problems with its development have seen it delayed which means the new scheme will initially be entirely reliant on an army of 25,000 contact tracers to track people down and prevent a second wave of infections.

Ms Harding did concede that the rollout of the massive new system is unlikely to be straightforward as she said: ‘There will be some kinks, for sure.’ 

There remain major question marks over how the system will work in practice with ministers not intending to fine people who refuse to self-isolate. 

Meanwhile, councils and public health officials will be tasked with containing any localised outbreaks of the disease in the future, with local authorities warning they must be given the required powers to act. 

During Mr Johnson’s appearance in front of the Liaison Committee he revealed: 

• The ‘brutal reality’ was the UK had not learned the lessons of previous pandemics and that was why testing capacity was not where it needed to be. 
• He said that while people will not initially be fined for failing to self-isolate ministers could move to introduce penalties later.
• Mr Johnson flatly dismissed calls for an official inquiry into Dominic Cummings as he was grilled by senior MPs, saying the outcry was just a ‘political ding dong’. 
• The PM said he ‘totally understood public indignation’ about the row regarding his aide’s trip to Durham, but insisted some of the allegations about his chief aide were ‘not correct’ and urged people to ‘move on’.
• He said he hopes that the two-metre social distancing rule can be reduced and has asked scientists to review it as coronavirus is suppressed, in order to aid the return of public transport and the hospitality sector. 
• Meanwhile, Britain today announced 412 more Covid-19 deaths, taking the official number of victims to 37,460 – as NHS data showed more than half of trusts haven’t recorded a fatality in the last 48 hours. 

Announcing the launch of the contact tracing scheme, Mr Johnson said the ‘brutal reality’ is that the UK did not learn the lessons of past pandemics in developing sufficient testing and tracing capacity.

Responding to former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, the PM told the Commons Liaison Committee: ‘We did have a test, track and trace operation but unfortunately we did not have the capacity in Public Health England.

‘To be absolutely blunt, we didn’t have the enzymes, we didn’t have the test kits, we just didn’t have the volume, nor did we have enough experienced trackers ready to mount the kind of operation they did in some other East Asian countries, for instance.

‘And I think the brutal reality is this country didn’t learn the lessons of Sars or Mers and we didn’t have a test operation ready to go on the scale that we needed.’

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said testing and tracing will become a ‘new way of life’ as he announced anyone with symptoms can now access a check. 

‘As we move to the next stage of our fight against coronavirus, we will be able to replace national lockdowns with individual isolation and, if necessary, local action where there are outbreaks,’ he said.

‘NHS Test and Trace will be vital to stopping the spread of the virus. It is how we will be able to protect our friends and family from infection, and protect our NHS.

‘This new system will help us keep this virus under control while carefully and safely lifting the lockdown nationally.’

Mr Hancock said that adhering to self-isolation would be ‘voluntary at first’ but that he could ‘quickly make it mandatory if that is what it takes’ – a statement echoed by Mr Johnson at the Liaison Committee. 

The new NHS Test and Trace scheme has an overall staff of approximately 50,000 people, comprising of 25,000 contact tracers, 20,000 people administering tests and between 4-7,000 clinicians who will provide expert advice.

The Government hopes that it will soon have the capacity to test 200,000 people for coronavirus every day, using 50 drive-through sites, more than 100 mobile testing units and three so-called ‘mega labs’. 

The aim is for test results to be ready within 24 hours although officials have admitted it will take some time to hit that goal. 

Speed will be of the essence in avoiding a second wave of the disease with contact tracing working best when people who may have been exposed to infection are swiftly removed from society.  

As of tomorrow anyone who tests positive for coronavirus will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace and told to share information about their recent interactions, handing over phone numbers and email addresses of close contacts..

Close contacts will be defined as anyone who has spent more than 15 minutes at a distance of less than two metres with someone who has subsequently tested positive.

People identified as having been in close contact will then be told to stay at home for 14 days even if they do not have symptoms to stop unknowingly spreading the virus. 

If those in isolation do then develop symptoms they will be able to book a test online or by calling 119. 

if they test positive they must continue to self-isolate for seven days or until symptoms have passed. If they test negative they must complete 14 days in isolation just in case the virus could not be detected yet. 

Members of their household will not have to stay at home unless the contacted person becomes symptomatic. Then all household members must self-isolate for 14 days. 

Everyone who has to isolate will be entitled to statutory sick pay or if they are self-employed they will get access to a Government grant. 

The scheme will have the capacity to trace the contacts of 10,000 people who test positive for coronavirus per day. That capacity could be scaled up if it is deemed necessary. 

Royal Society scientists today suggested the contact tracing programme may only bring down infections by as little as five per cent. 

World-leading experts from the prestigious scientific academy warned the scheme was ‘not a silver bullet’ and will only have a ‘modest’ effect on the UK’s crisis.

The scientists said that testing times were still too slow and there is a good chance many Britons do not adhere to self-isolation rules. 

They modelled what effect contact tracing would have on Britain’s epidemic and found that, even if compliance is 80 per cent and the Government speeds up its testing, the number of new cases will only drop by up to 15 per cent.

The report, by the Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics (DELVE) group, has been handed to SAGE scientists ahead of the rollout of the contact tracing programme tomorrow. 

Nobel Prize laureate Venki Ramakrishnan, chair of the DELVE committee, said the UK’s scheme should by no means ‘be considered as a silver bullet’. 

Ms Harding said the success of the scheme will depend on people doing as they are told when it comes to self-isolation.

She told reporters: ‘The purpose of this is to enable us to move from all of us being in national lockdown to a model where there is individual isolation if you are ill with the disease or if you have been in close contact with someone who is ill with the disease and local action where we see individual cases starting to spike. 

‘So it is a really important moment where all of us in the country will need to play our part in enabling us to be able to move back to a more normal life.’ 

Despite the high stakes nature of the coronavirus outbreak and the damage a second wave would do, Ms Harding said the Government does not plan to fine people for non-compliance – at least initially. 

She said: ‘The Secretary of State has the powers to bring in penalties but on day one that is not what we are doing.’ 

The fact that the system without the app is entirely reliant on human testimony has raised concerns, with people needing to remember who they have seen, where and when in order for it to work effectively. 

Ms Harding said there was nothing abnormal about launching without the app as she said physical contact tracing ‘is how contact tracing works for all infectious diseases’.  

She would not be drawn on when the app will be ready as she tried to down play its significance. 

‘The app will be up and running soon and I am sorry, I am not going to give you a date,’ she said. 

‘I am much more focused at the moment on getting the overall test and trace service up and running. I view the app the cherry on the cake, not the cake itself.’ 

Concerns have been expressed that the data revealed during the contact tracing process could be passed onto the police to crackdown on non-compliance with lockdown rules. 

For example, if someone has visited a friend’s house during lockdown but is then flagged as a contact for a positive test and they then have to reveal their rule breaking. 

But Ms Harding said all data shared with NHS Test and Trace will always be ‘entirely confidential’. 

The new contact tracing system does raise the prospect of some people facing more than one spell in isolation if they are flagged by more than one person who tests positive. 

Ms Harding said repeated periods of self-isolation would likely ‘trigger the investigation at a local level to say “what is happening there”‘. 

She said there be local action plans in place for ‘test, tracing and containing’ with councils and public health officials tasked with playing ‘whack a mole’ to stop potential outbreaks if the data shows a concerning spike in positive tests in a specific area.  

‘The best way that we can contain it will be through local public health professionals and local authority leaders going in and understanding what is really happening,’ she said.

‘That is what you have seen around the world where you have seen a significant outbreak, they get successfully contained, where local communities understand what is happening and work together, whether it is in rapidly testing people who don’t have any symptoms to make sure that you have not got an asymptomatic group that are spreading the disease. 

‘Whether it is infection control, deep cleaning and whether it is closing temporarily one service or another in that local community to do all that testing and cleaning. That responsibility lies with our upper tier local authorities and they will be the people marshalling the local resources.’ 

Councils have welcomed  the prospect of taking a bigger role in the fight against coronavirus but have insisted they must be given the appropriate powers to be able to act. 

Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, Councillor Ian Hudspeth, said: ‘Covid-19 is best understood as a pattern of local outbreaks, rather than a national pandemic with a similar impact in every community, which is why councils as local leaders have a fundamental role to play in the test and trace service.

‘It is good government has recognised the importance of directors of public health within councils, who need to have the necessary powers and authority to lead the response locally and tackle outbreaks early and aggressively.’       

Boris Johnson’s crunch appearance in front of the Liaison Committee: PM dismisses calls for official inquiry into Dominic Cummings, says he wants to reduce 2m social distancing rule and admits ‘not everybody’ will return to school from day one

By David Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent for MailOnline 

The Prime Minister today faced a long-awaited grilling by senior MPs on the House of Commons Liaison Committee. 

The 90 minute hearing focused on coronavirus. Here are the key points from Mr Johnson’s responses. 

Dominic Cummings row 

The Prime Minister flatly dismissed the calls for an official inquiry into Dominic Cummings today as he was grilled by senior MPs, saying the outcry was just a ‘political ding dong’.

The row over Mr Cummings’ 260-mile trip to Durham during lockdown in March and the PM’s refusal to sack him is still threatening to tear the Tories to pieces.

The party’s poll lead has been slashed by nine points in a week – thought to be the biggest drop in a decade.

The PM said he ‘totally understood public indignation’ about the situation, but insisted some of the allegations about his chief aide were ‘not correct’ and urged people to ‘move on’.

Pushed on whether the Cabinet Secretary should carry out a formal investigation, Mr Johnson said there had been plenty of ‘autobiography’ from Mr Cummings and it would not be a ‘good use of official time’ as everyone was working ‘flat out’ on the coronavirus response.

Easing social distancing

Mr Johnson revealed he has asked top Government scientists to review the two-metre social distancing rule in the ‘hope’ that it can be reduced to help pubs and shops reopen.

The UK has one of the strictest contact gap rules in the world to counter coronavirus transmission, double the one metre gap recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Schools and shop in the UK are due to open in the next few weeks with strict measures already being planned to keep children and shoppers two metres from each other as much as possible in both settings. 

Mr Johnson was asked about the two metre rule by Science Committee chairman Greg Clark.  

The PM replied that the Science Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advice was that there was a ‘considerable reduction’ in risk at that distance, compared to a smaller gap. 

‘My own hope is that as we make progress in getting the virus down … we will be able to reduce that distance which I think will be particularly valuable on (public) transport and in the hospitality sector,’ he added.

The Government’s women problem 

Mr Johnson said he would have liked to have had more female representation at the daily Downing Street press conferences.

Priti Patel is the only woman minister to have led one of the set pieces since they started in March. 

In response to questions from Tory MP Caroline Nokes, chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee, the PM said: ‘It’s certainly true that I would have liked to have had more female representation at the press conferences so far.’

Mr Johnson also acknowledged that female workers have been ‘harder hit’ by the pandemic, because ‘very often they will have jobs, particularly lower paid jobs, that make it more difficult for them to work from home’.

The Prime Minister said having women in the room when decisions are made has a ‘huge difference’ to the nature of the decisions taken.

Asked how many women is ‘enough’ representation, Mr Johnson appeared to laugh – before the committee chairman Bernard Jenkin said: ‘It’s not a joking matter though, is it?’

The PM said: ‘It’s not, and all I say, Caroline (Nokes), is that it’s incredibly important to us.’

Back to school 

Mr Johnson said he expects ‘not everybody will go back’ on day one of the phased reopening of schools next week, but insisted it is ‘safe provided everybody remembers the guidelines we’ve set out’, including social distancing and hand washing.

On whether the plan is for the remaining primary school pupils to return a month before the summer holidays, Mr Johnson said: ‘We will keep that under review, we’d like to do it if we can, it depends on our national success in keeping the disease under control.’

Pressed on introducing a catch-up premium and summer schools to help disadvantaged pupils, the PM told the Liaison Committee: ‘I want to support any measures we can to level up.’

He added: ‘There’s no doubt a huge social injustice is taking place at the moment because some kids are going to have better access to tutoring and schooling at home, and other kids aren’t going to get nearly as much, and that’s not fair.

‘That’s one of the reasons we need to get schools back.’

He said the catch-up fund was a ‘good idea’, before highlighting support in place, adding: ‘There’s a lot more that needs to be done.’