Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, is calling for the Government to use the 4 week Lockdown to improve the test and trace system that is currently in place.
The current method has been criticised for failing to identify and contacting enough contacts to make test and trace effective.
The Shadow Health Secretary said:
“Coronavirus is growing with ferocity and urgent action is needed to bring the R below 1 nationwide which is why Labour urged Boris Johnson to use the opportunity of the half-term holiday for a time-limited circuit break.
“This didn’t happen, and test and trace have been overwhelmed. Controlling Covid-19 depends on fixing tracing, ensuring the quick turnaround of tests and introducing regular, weekly testing to identify the 70% of carriers who may not have symptoms but can still spread the virus.”
Mr Ashworth used the example of universities using rapid tests to push the Government in a slightly different direction, seeing tests for people in education, transport, retail and hospitality, and of at-risk groups living in areas with the highest infection rates as essential to getting the pandemic under control.
