Uncertainty over Covid funding leaves local test and trace teams ‘in the dark’

Exclusive: Health authorities may be unable to properly respond to future outbreaks in the community if the government withdraws Covid funding by spring, Samuel Lovett writes

Locally run test and trace teams have enjoyed far greater success than their counterparts in the private national system (Getty)

Publicly run test and trace services across England remain “in the dark” over future funding commitments from the government, raising fears that local teams will be scaled down and left unable to effectively respond to Covid-19 outbreaks in the community.

In areas with high rates of continuing transmission, councils could be forced to divert resources away from other health services – such as mental health support and drug rehabilitation – to sustain efforts in controlling and minimising the localised spread of Covid-19.

Money provided by the government to manage the Covid response at a local level runs until the end of March 2022. Although the UK’s epidemic is expected to have subsided by then, directors of public health are concerned that outbreaks in communities with low vaccination rates will continue to “create challenges”.