UK Edition
More than 15,000 positive Covid cases have become “lost” in Britain’s tracking systems, resulting in long delays being passed on to Test and Trace handlers.
It means that tens of thousands of people who should have been told to self-isolate after coming into close contact with an infected case are only now being contacted – in some cases 10 days after transmission occurred.
The Government blamed “computer issues” for a blunder which saw the number of daily cases appear to double overnight, and has been accused of “shambolic” handling by Labour.
On Saturday night the UK reported 12,872 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus – up from 6,968 the day before. On Sunday the number had risen to 22,961, bringing the total number to more than half a million since the pandemic began.
However, officials said a “technical glitch” meant many of the cases had actually occurred the previous week, yet only been added to the statistics belatedly. The fiasco meant almost 16,000 positive cases became “stalled” in the system – and their details were not passed on to Test and Trace call handlers.
As a result, tens of thousands of their close contacts are only being reached now, meaning that many of them could have been unknowingly carrying the virus.
At 1am on Sunday, health officials embarked on desperate attempts to trace contacts of positive cases, some of which date back 10 days, as they involve those who tested positive between Sept 24 and Oct 1. The NHS test and trace app was launched on Sept 24.
It comes amid worrying signs that transmission is going unchecked in some parts of the country. The Covid infection rate in Manchester has risen more than 15-fold since local lockdown was introduced, latest figures show.
The mayor, Andy Burnham, warned the Government was in danger of “losing” the public in the North, with Manchester’s rate at now 335.9 cases per 100,000, up from 24 per 100,000 when a lockdown of the North West was introduced in July.
Health officials said the problem – described by the Prime Minister as a “computing issue” – meant that cases in future days would also include cases which occurred between Sept 24 and Oct 1. The NHS test and trace app was launched on Sept 24.
On Sunday night, Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary said: “This is shambolic and people across the country will be understandably alarmed.
“Matt Hancock should come to the House of Commons on Monday to explain what on earth has happened, what impact it has had on our ability to contain this virus and what he plans to do to fix test and trace.”
Public Health England said most of the cases occurred in recent days.
Other sources said some referrals – which should have automatically triggered NHS Test and Trace to launch contact tracing – were only now being enacted, despite the fact the positive cases dated back to mid-September.
The situation has added to confusion about the spread of coronavirus, and the impact of measures aimed at reducing transmission.
Susan Hopkins, Test and Trace and PHE Joint Medical Adviser, said: “Our analysis now shows that this issue affected a total of 15,841 cases ... with the majority occurring in recent days. This means the total number of positive cases over this period was higher than previously reported.
“Of these, over 75pc (11,968) relate to cases that should have been reported between Sept 30 and Oct 2. This issue did not affect people receiving their Covid-19 test results and all people who tested positive have received their Covid-19 test result in the normal way.”