One in six close contacts not being reached by test and trace regime in Bedford

The data is from the Department for Health and Social care
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One in six close contacts of people with coronavirus are not being reached by the test and trace system in Bedford, figures suggest.

Data from the Department for Health and Social care shows 9,000 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Bedford were transferred to the Test and Trace service between May 28 and January 13.

That means 1,484 new cases were transferred in the latest seven-day period.

One in six close contacts not being reached by test and trace regime in BedfordOne in six close contacts not being reached by test and trace regime in Bedford
One in six close contacts not being reached by test and trace regime in Bedford

Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.

This led to 17,737 close contacts being identified over the period – those not managed by local health protection teams, which are dealt with through a call centre or online.

But 84% of those were reached, meaning 2,833 people were not contacted or did not respond.

That was up from the 82.4% reached in the period to January 6

Across England, 92.8% of contacts not managed by local health protection teams were reached and told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace in the latest week to January 13.

Local health protection teams deal with cases linked to settings such as hospitals, schools and prisons.

The contact tracing rate including these cases was 92.9%, up from 92.7% the week before.

Around 352,000 new cases were transferred nationally in the week to January 13.