NHS Test and Trace misses 5,000 Covid-19 contacts in Northamptonshire since May

NHS test and trace has failed to track down around 5,000 people with positive Covid-19 tests or their immediate contacts in Northamptonshire.

Office for National Statistics numbers show 703 people who tested positive could not be reached to find out who they had been in direct contact with, potentially leaving around 1,500 walking without knowing they were carrying the virus.

And the service managed to get in touch with only 62 per cent of those in the county — 4,587 out of 7,350 — who were identified as having been in direct contact with a Covid-19 case.

Public Health chiefs issued a series of warnings as Government figures revealed 464 new positive tests in Northamptonshire during the week from October 1 to October 7.

Yet during the same seven days, the national test and tracers failed to contact 54 of those people who had tested positive to ensure they were self-isolating.

That could also have identified an estimated 120 more people who had been in direct contact and told they need to self-isolate.

Positive cases transferred to NHS Test and Trace are handled in different ways. Positive cases linked to potential outbreaks in specific settings are handled by local teams and termed "complex" cases. Those managed online and by national call centres are termed "non-complex"

ONS only include "non-complex" cases handled nationally.

Northamptonshire's Director of Public Health, Lucy Wightman, told Friday's Covid-19 Oversight Board meeting: "Contact tracing still has challenges but locally is working well."

Local health chiefs admit they are worried by cases in Northamptonshire are soaring.

Yesterday's most recent figures showed 158 new positive tests in the county in the latest 24-hour period taking the total to 787 during the last week, lifting the weekly infection rate to 105.27 per 100,000 in the county.

Wellingborough currently has the highest infection rate in the county with 127.97 new cases per 100,000 people in the last week.

Many fear the test and trace service, which was set up in May, is being overwhelmed by the surge in cases.

The Government's group of scientific advisors SAGE warned the system needs to call at least 80 per cent of all contacts and ensure they self-isolate, in order to stop the spread of infection.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the system, telling MPs: “Through NHS Test and Trace we’ve built up a detailed picture of where and how this virus is spreading.

“This week’s NHS test and trace statistics show the testing capacity is up, testing turnaround times are down, and the distance travelled for tests is down too.”

But NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “It’s deeply unfortunate that at this point with infections rising, admissions increasing and winter looming, there’s still clearly a long way to go until our test and trace system is fit for purpose.”