The NHS test-and-trace system is failing to trace the contacts of at least 60 per cent of people who test positive for coronavirus, new figures suggest.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said on Monday that the programme was “working well” and that the vast majority of new cases had been contacted since it began last Thursday.
However, figures disclosed last night appear to show serious problems at the start of the scheme. They suggest that 1,831 of 4,456 patients, or 40 per cent, put on the system after testing positive for Covid-19 had provided information about their close contacts, either in an online form or to contact tracers. About a third of the 4,634 close contacts provided by those who had coronavirus — an average
