Track and trace - "less than half" of close contacts are being reached in Oldham

Data shows that less than half of close contacts are being reached in Oldham, St Helens, Manchester and Rochdale

England’s coronavirus test and trace service is failing to reach more than half the contacts named by infected residents in Blackburn with Darwen – where health chiefs are battling a major outbreak.

And Oldham could soon be facing a similar outcome if local track and trace procedure guidelines aren't followed strictly.

Yesterday The Independent reported that leaked analysis, carried out by Professor Dominic Harrison, the public health director of Blackburn with Darwen borough council, shows that across northwest England, the national tracing service is reaching only 52 per cent of all close contacts.

The newspaper quoted one senior source as saying: “The contact tracing service is now part of the problem we are trying to solve, not the solution.”

The data also shows that less than half of close contacts are being reached in Oldham, St Helens, Manchester and Rochdale.

Professor Harrison said: “With larger numbers of contacts per case and only just over half of the contact tracing of confirmed cases completed, we are at significant risk of losing control of the capacity to manage this risk due to the failure of the contact tracing.”

Government and Public Health England officials are now working to put in place new local contact tracing to pursue those not reached by the national system.

If they fail, the outbreak could worsen and lead to a local lockdown like that seen in Leicester.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised a 'world beating' test and trace service in May and the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has been clear that 80 per cent of contacts must be reached within 48 hours to prevent the virus from spreading.

The latest data published on Saturday shows the northwest region has the highest overall rate of infection with 600 cases per 100,000 people.

Next week, the government is set to unveil new powers to be able to close down businesses and order people to stay at home.

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