The NHS test and trace system will not survive without local leadership

Ministers may not be keen on scrapping it entirely, says Andrew Grice, but at the very least they should seek help from councils. There’s just enough time to make it work before schools reopen

Councils have been itching for months to play a bigger role in contact tracing (AFP/Getty)

Boris Johnson is in denial about the government’s test and trace system, sticking to his guns by insisting it is the “world-beating” one he promised by June. His justification is that the UK is testing more per head of population than anywhere in Europe. He didn’t say that only about half the UK’s capacity of 338,000 tests a day is actually being used.

The prime minister can be forgiven for not wanting to admit to another mistake. The list is already longer than any politician would want – the delayed lockdown and quarantine measures; the problems with personal protective equipment; the tragedy in care homes; the disappearing NHS app soon to be relaunched (again).

But Johnson should bite the bullet by conceding that NHS test and trace isn’t working before it is too late. It certainly isn’t working well enough, even for the government’s advisers, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). Latest overall figures show that 79 per cent of people who tested positive were traced (down from 82 per cent the previous week) and that 72 per of their close contacts were reached and asked to self-isolate (down from 76 per cent). Only 56 per cent of close contacts handled online or by call centres were reached and told to self-isolate. More complex cases are referred to Public Health England (PHE) local teams.