LONDON, May 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised the UK would have in place a “world-beating” system to test and trace people who may have been exposed to coronavirus.
He said 24,000 out of 25,000 contact tracers had already been recruited, referring to teams of people who identify who has been in contact with a person who contracted coronavirus, to notify them so they don’t infect others.
But Johnson did not mention the contact-tracing mobile phone app trialled on the Isle of Wight, which uses Bluetooth to detect and record other app users and notifies you if you’ve been near someone who later develops symptoms.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer challenged the PM over the absence of a tracing system since March.
Contact tracing is a system used to slow the spread of infectious diseases like coronavirus, and is already being used in Hong Kong, Singapore and Germany.
One method involves the infected person listing all the people with whom they have had prolonged and recent contact, to be tracked down by phone or email.
Another uses a location-tracking mobile app, which identifies people the patient has been in contact with.
The NHS contact tracing app – which is currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight and was initially meant to be launched across England in mid-May – will be rolled out at a later date, No 10 suggested.
Northern Ireland already has a telephone contact tracing system in place, while the Scottish government is currently trialling one. The Welsh government wants its “test, trace, protect” programme operational by the end of May.
It comes as the number of people who died after testing positive for the virus increased by 363 to 35,704, the government said on Wednesday.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir asked why there had been “no effective” attempt to trace the contacts of those infected with Covid-19 since 12 March “when tracing was abandoned”.
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 June 1.”
He added that 24,000 contact tracers had already been recruited.
The 1 June deadline will also mark the earliest possible date for the gradual reopening of schools and non-essential shops in England.
The government’s deputy chief scientific adviser Prof Dame Angela McLean previously said an effective system for tracing new coronavirus cases needed to be in place before lockdown restrictions could be changed. — NNN-AGENCIES
