Test and Trace failures mean a new national lockdown is just two weeks away, a member of Independent SAGE has warned.
Ex-World Health Organisation director Anthony Costello thinks that until the £12billion privatised system is overhauled, restrictions imposed in recent weeks will only pause the virus’s spread.
In the week up to September 30 in England, Test and Trace reached just 68.6% of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19, the lowest since the scheme began.
He said: “The reason we’re in this trouble is we didn’t set up a proper test, trace and isolate scheme in March. We had the chance to reform it when it wasn’t working. We didn’t do that.”
He said local so-called circuit breakers – like the 16-day restrictions in Scotland – may stay far longer if deaths keep rising.
He added: “I suspect in a couple of weeks the Government will be forced to go into some sort of national lockdown.”
Hospital admissions were doubling every 14 days in England, while in the North East, Yorkshire and North West it was every seven to 10 days, said an expert.
