Daily testing of contacts of COVID-19 cases: evaluation
Evaluation of the daily testing of contacts of COVID-19 (DTCC) programme.
Applies to England
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This evaluation was developed rapidly alongside the launch of the daily testing for contacts of COVID-19 (DTCC). It served both as a mechanism for the collation and presentation of rapid insight to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) operational teams to monitor the launch of the new policy, and also as a longer-term investigation into its effectiveness.
The policy of DTCC was live during a period of high demand for lateral flow devices (LFDs), with supply often not keeping up with demand. There were several factors contributing to this demand, including high prevalence, other changes to testing policy and guidance and changes in testing behaviour over the Christmas period. The evidence gathered for this evaluation demonstrates that DTCC contributed to this demand.
The supplementary technical annexe to the full DTCC evaluation report describes the structure and outputs of a model developed to form part of the DTCC policy evaluation. This model was based on a decision-tree approach and is constructed using parameters from the wider findings of the evaluation, and where necessary specific data analyses and research from relevant literature. The model was designed to assess the theoretical difference between the 2 policies, and, as such, should not be considered an empirical assessment of the actual impact of the policies.