Coronavirus: Government under fire over test and trace programme staffing levels

Published: 23 April 2020

The government's plan to launch a 'test, track and trace' programme to stop the future spread of coronavirus is under fire after scientists said it will require up to five times

The government's plan to launch a 'test, track and trace' programme to stop the future spread of coronavirus is under fire after scientists said it will require up to five times as many staff as currently envisaged.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced yesterday that some 18,000 staff will be put in place as part of the mass-testing scheme.

But health experts today pointed to the staffing levels of similar schemes already in operation in countries like China, Germany and South Korea and suggested the UK will actually need as many as 100,000 tracing staff.

The successful implementation of 'test, track and trace' is viewed as key to easing the current state of lockdown and to preventing a second peak.

The aim of the programme will be to identify people who have the disease and then figure out within 24 hours at least 80 per cent of the people they have recently come into contact with.

All those identified will then also be tested and told to self-isolate in order to keep infection levels as low as possible.

The government is aiming to get to 100,000 daily coronavirus tests by the end of the month.

Mr Hancock yesterday announced all key workers will now be eligible for a test but a new online booking system got off to a disastrous start today after it closed just hours after opening.

Matt Hancock, pictured in Downing Street today, is under pressure to expand his 'test, track and trace' programme amid fears his proposal for 18,000 staff will not be enough

The 18,000 people Mr Hancock has said will staff the 'test, track and trace' programme will include 3,000 health professionals who will be tasked with stopping outbreaks in critical settings like hospitals.

But some scientists believe the remaining 15,000 contact tracers tasked with testing society as a whole will not be enough.

Professor Azeem Majeed, head of public health at Imperial College London, told The Telegraph: 'We need to use this lockdown to recruit large numbers of contact tracers, so we have a large scale programme in place as soon as possible.

'If you look at Wuhan in China, they recruited 9,000 contact tracers for 11 million people.

'We need to look at large volumes of contact tracers, not just a few hundred or a few thousand. We need tens of thousands, maybe even 100,000 to do contact tracing.'

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Mr Hancock today said it was not quite the case that mass testing and contact tracing needed to be in place before current lockdown restrictions can be eased.

But he said contact tracing is most effective when the number of infections has been pushed right down.

'The truth is that we need to get the number of new cases down, right down, and the lower you go, the more effective contact tracing is because the more resources you can put into each individual case that gets a positive test,' he said.

'You can really make sure you can get hold of all of their contacts and get them, in many cases, to self-isolate.

'The smaller the number of new cases, the more effective the test, track and trace system will be.'

Mr Hancock said the 'test, track and trace' scheme, which will also include a smart phone app which logs who people come into contact with, will be functioning in a 'matter of weeks'.

A website had launched this morning to allow key workers to book a coronavirus test.

It offered two options, allowing key workers to book one of just 1,000 home testing kits or to apply for a slot at a drive-through centre.

But applications shut at 10am as the website said people could no longer register.

The Department of Health and Social Care had expected home kits to run out by 10.30am, with Whitehall sources saying the rush today confirmed the high demand.

How will the UK's contact tracing app work?

The NHS has published some of the first details of how a contact tracing app will work in the UK.

Here is a closer look at what we know so far.

- What is contact tracing?

Contact tracing is the process of reducing virus transmission by identifying and alerting people who may have been exposed so that they can protect themselves and others around them.

Contact tracing is seen by many experts as a key factor in beating Covid-19 and helping the country out of lockdown if applied correctly alongside other key factors such as increased testing.

- How will the app work?

Using Bluetooth Low Energy signals, the app will log each time it comes into close range of other devices also running the app.

The app keeps an anonymous record of all these logs securely on a user's phone.

If someone develops symptoms of Covid-19, they can use the app to inform the NHS, which will then trigger an anonymous alert to any other app users the infected person came into contact with by analysing the collected logs.

The app will then advise what action to take, including telling people to self-isolate if necessary.

- Will it be able to do anything else?

NHSX, which is developing the app, has said future versions of the software will give people the option to volunteer to provide the NHS with additional information about themselves to help with wider Covid-19 research.

It said the extra data could be used to help identify hotspots and trends around the virus and its transmission.

- How will user privacy be protected?

Users will be able to delete the app and all its associated data whenever they want, NHSX says, and while in use that data will only ever be used for NHS care, management, evaluation and research.

Users will not be forced to install the app, although the NHS has said that in order for contact tracing to be effective, large numbers of people need to choose to take part.

NHSX has also said it will publish the key security and privacy designs of the app alongside its source code 'so that privacy experts can 'look under the bonnet'', and is working with tech giants including Apple and Google on the system.

- What is Apple and Google's involvement?

The two technology giants have announced they are working together to try and make such a system easier to implement.

They are building technology in two phases:

First, in May, the two companies say they will add the ability for iPhone and Android devices to exchange information with each other using Bluetooth via official health authority contact tracing apps around the world.

The tech giants have said that in the coming months, they then plan to build the technology directly into their operating systems so it can reach more people, including those using older phones and do away with the need to download a third-party app to log contact with others.

iOS and Android account for the vast majority of smartphones being used around the world.

The two companies have pledged to reinforce security too, saying 'privacy, transparency and consent are of utmost importance in this effort'.

- When is the NHS app expected to be released?

A date for the app's release has not been confirmed and it remains in the development and testing phase.

So far, NHSX has only confirmed the app will be launched 'in the coming weeks'.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said contact tracing works best when the number of infections figure is greatly reduced.

Mr Hancock told Radio 4's Today programme on Friday morning: 'The truth is that we need to get the number of new cases down, right down, and the lower you go, the more effective contact tracing is because the more resources you can put into each individual case that gets a positive test.'