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The government faces new demands for the demolition of the NHS central testing and tracing system in favor of handing over responsibility for contact tracing to local public health teams.
Weekly test and trace data for England shows it has achieved just under 60% of close contacts of people who tested positive, the lowest since the start of the service. It comes when the Bureau of National Statistics indicated that the sharp rise in new infections was stabilizing in England and stabilizing at around 50,000 per day.
Sir John Oldham, adjunct professor in global health innovation at Imperial College London and former leader of large-scale change at the Department of Health, said “the lockdown will be a disappointment” unless confidence is raised through a radical reform of test and trace.
“I think this probably includes increasing the number of small labs to reduce turnaround times and, more importantly, the results for going to local health directors and for having teams to undertake contact tracing,” he told the Today program. BBC Radio 4.
“I would probably get the resources to do it by demolishing the failing central call centers. I think the whole system should be under the purview of public health, which brings us as close as possible to the effective system we had before the 2012 NHS reforms. I think they have proven they have the capacity and effectiveness – they work 95 % contact tracking; the national call center is 60% “.
Oldham suggested the lockdown may be useless unless there is an effective test and tracking system – “like South Korea, New Zealand and Germany” – to keep numbers down after restrictions are relaxed. “This has been promised to us all the time, but it has not been possible to keep it,” he said.
He added that trust was key as he supported the use of local contact locators. “The pandemic is seen as a political campaign with huge promises and slogans. The virus does not send tweets or send press releases. We just need a little truthfulness, transparency on data, results and decision-making… Greater understanding gives greater confidence and greater adherence to what we want people to do. “
Thousands of people were tested in Liverpool on the first day of the mass pilot on Friday. The program aims to test up to 50,000 people per day once fully operational, said Matt Ashton, the city’s director of public health.
He said: “We are still working on the numbers but we think about it [there were] about 1,500-2,000 people per test center, so really good numbers and really good interest, so it was very encouraging. “
However, the scheme drew criticism from health experts, who described it as not fit for purpose. Allyson Pollock, a professor of public health at Newcastle University, said plans to test asymptomatic people went against the advice of the Emergency Science Advisory Group to prioritize testing for those showing symptoms.
Meanwhile, Chris Lovett, the deputy director of public health for the City of London and Hackney, said his team of six was asked to reach out to people in their area that the NHS test and trace had not been able to. to contact. Of the 700 cases transferred in the past six weeks, just under half have been reached and placed on the program, he said.
“Right at the start of the pandemic, our local mayor and many others have asked local systems to take control of the test and trace,” he said.
“At this stage, it will be very difficult for us to mobilize all the resources necessary to undertake full contact tracing, but certainly working in much closer partnership with local organizations, councils, the NHS, so that we can ensure this important control measure works is what we are committed to doing.
“Our local residents have often said how important it was to have that local contact, local knowledge and knowledge of what works for our communities.”
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