BORIS TEST BLAST
PM demands test and trace improvements after just one in seven get Covid results back in 24hrs
BORIS Johnson last night admitted the £12billion test and trace system desperately needs to improve — after it suffered its worst week yet.
Just one in seven Brits are getting their test results back within the 24- hour target time, and a record low of only 59.6 per cent of close contacts of people with Covid were reached.
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Joining in criticism for the first time at last night’s Downing Street press conference, he said: “I share people’s frustrations.
"And I understand totally why we do need to see faster turnaround times.
“We need to make sure that people who do get a positive test self-isolate. That’s absolutely crucial if this is going to work in the way that it can.”
He said the system, run by Dido Harding, helps tackle Covid “a bit” — while Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance suggested it was becoming ineffective because Covid rates were so high.
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He agreed there was room for improvement, adding: “It has much less of an impact in areas where you’ve got very high levels.
“That’s why additional measures are taken — having to take difficult decisions around premises that need to be shut and so on.
“At that point you can’t really control it any other way other than by stopping contacts in environments in which transmission is most likely to take place.”
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