Press release

Weekly statistics show NHS Test and Trace is reaching the highest number of contacts

Seventh week of NHS Test and Trace figures show people are being reached by the service more quickly and more people are providing details of their close contacts.

• From: Department of Health and Social Care
• Published: 23 July 2020

• Over 90% of tests carried out at a testing site are returned the day after the test took place
• Majority of contacts are being successfully reached by NHS Test and Trace and asked to self-isolate within 24 hours of being identified as a close contact

Statistics covering the seventh week of operation (9 to 15 July) of the NHS Test and Trace service have been published today (Thursday 23 July), showing just under 200,000 people have been reached by the service and asked to self-isolate, and over 2.3 million new people have been tested for the virus.

In the past week, 91.5% of tests carried out at a testing site were returned the day after the test was taken, and what’s more, 77% of those testing positive were reached by NHS Test and Trace to identify their contacts in less than 24 hours.

Executive Chair of NHS Test and Trace, Dido Harding, said:

In just 7 weeks we have tested over 2.3 million new people for coronavirus, identified nearly 39,000 with the virus and reached almost 200,000 people to stop the virus from spreading further. This week’s statistics show we are making really good progress with more people responding to the service.  

NHS Test and Trace relies on everyone playing their part. We all need to get a test if we have symptoms, share details of our contacts if we test positive and self-isolate when asked to do so.

I want to thank each and every person for their individual efforts at keeping their friends, family and community safe. We know this isn’t easy and it is thanks to your hard work that we are able to stop the virus, prevent outbreaks and gradually get back to our normal lives.

Statistics released for the first time today show that 87.4% of tests in hospital settings are returned within 24 hours.

The testing programme has been stood up at pace with current capacity for over 330,000 tests a day, which will grow to 500,000 a day by the end of October. Anyone in England of any age experiencing symptoms – a temperature, a new continuous cough or cold, or a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – can get a test. It is the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities created in British history.

As part of the drive to towards the target of a 500,000-a-day UK testing capacity by the end of October, a new Lighthouse laboratory will open in Newport, which is expected to start operations at the end of August, and work is ongoing on plans to expand the UK’s laboratory capacity even further over the coming months.

We continue to develop the system and we are currently working towards creating a dedicated team of contact tracers who will focus specifically on specific local areas of concern. They will work in partnership with local areas to quickly develop extra processes that are tailored to the needs of those communities. This includes dedicated call handlers, scripts tailored to the local outbreak context and lockdown measures, and specific reporting to provide a national and local comparison.

Overall the data from the seventh week of operation (9 to 15 July) of NHS Test and Trace shows that:

Between 9 and 15 July 2020:

• 355,597 people were newly tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) under pillar 1 (testing in hospitals and outbreak locations) and pillar 2 (national swab testing) in England
• nearly half of people tested under pillar 2 received the result within 24 hours of taking a test. This increases to 7 out of 10 for tests that were carried out in person
• 3,953 new people tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19)
• 3,887 people had their case transferred to the contact tracing system of whom 3,098 people (79.7%) were reached and asked to provide details of close contacts
• most people reached by NHS Test and Trace provided details for one or more contacts and this has increased from 77.5% to 79.9% since last week
• 16,742 people were identified as coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive and been transferred to contact tracing. Of these, 13,034 people (77.9%) were reached and asked to self-isolate, an increase from 72.0% the previous week
• of those contacts reached, 83.6% were reached within 24 hours of being identified as a close contact. 55.9% were contacted within 24 hours of the person who tested positive being transferred to contact tracing
• new information published this week shows 69.0% of close contacts reported to NHS Test and Trace are within the same household as the person who has tested positive for coronavirus
• new data shows that over half of contacts identified by people who have tested positive for coronavirus are reached and asked to self-isolate within 24 hours of receiving notification of the positive test result

In total, since 28 May 2020:

• 2,320,229 people were newly tested under pillars 1 and 2
• 38,772 new people have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19)
• In total, the number of people reached, including both positive cases and their close contacts, is 199,508
• 38,877 people had their case transferred to the contact tracing system, of whom 29,962 (77.1%) were reached and asked to provide details of their recent close contacts
• 202,781 people were identified as coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive. Of these, 169,546 (83.6%) were reached and asked to self-isolate

Background information

1. The approach to the publication of NHS Test and Trace data is supported by the Office for National Statistics and UK Statistics Authority who are working closely with NHS Test and Trace on the development of this weekly release and the wider granular approach to data in the programme.
2. This is the seventh set of data on NHS Test and Trace to be published. Over the coming weeks, this data will be integrated with those from other parts of NHS Test and Trace to provide an end-to-end view of the service that follows the journey taken by people accessing NHS Test and Trace. This includes both the numbers of people engaged and the speed of the journey through the service, including data on test turnaround times.
3. Please note that previous figures released on NHS Test and Trace have been revised. The figures presented are based on a data cut a number of days after the end of the reporting period, to give time for cases reported at the end of the 7-day period to have an outcome. Some cases may continue to be in progress after this period, and therefore data may need to be revised over time.

Published 23 July 2020