[ad_1]
Image copyright
PA media
Nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases were not entered into the national computer system used for official figures due to a technical glitch, Public Health England said.
Some of the unreported cases were later added to Saturday’s figure of 12,872 new cases and Sunday’s figure of 22,961.
PHE said that all cases “received the Covid-19 test result as normal.”
But it means he didn’t reach out to his close contacts to isolate himself, says BBC health editor Hugh Pym.
Daily figures for the end of the week were “actually closer to 11,000,” rather than the around 7,000 reported, our correspondent added.
According to PHE, the cases were not included in the daily reports between September 25 and October 2.
However, he has insisted that the IT issue has been resolved and now all cases have been turned over to the test and trace system.
- In Full: Andrew Marr’s Interview with Boris Johnson
- Ministers have ‘lost control of the virus’ – Starmer
Labor has described the failure as “chaotic.”
Meanwhile, the head of the government’s vaccine task force, Kate Bingham, told the Financial Times that less than half of the UK population could be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“There will be no vaccination of people under 18 years old,” he said.
“It is an adult-only vaccine for people over the age of 50, targeting healthcare workers and nursing home workers and the vulnerable.”
Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that there could be “potholes until Christmas” and beyond as the UK grapples with the coronavirus.
Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, the prime minister said there was “hope” in beating Covid, and called on the public to “act fearlessly but with common sense.”
At a time when the testing system has come under intense scrutiny after reports of delays and a system struggling to keep up with demand, the latest revelation could not have come at a more uncomfortable time for the government of Westminster.
Because the nearly 16,000 additional positive test results had not been entered into the testing and tracing system, their recent contacts were not immediately followed up.
Experts advise that the ideal is to locate contacts within 48 hours.
Officials say the technical issue, believed to be IT-related, has been resolved and all new cases are in addition to the totals reported over the weekend.
But all this is unlikely to improve public confidence in the testing system in England.
And it muddies the waters for policy makers and officials trying to track the spread of the virus in what the prime minister has called a “critical moment.”
On Sunday, the government’s coronavirus control panel said that, as of 09:00 BST, there had been a further 22,961 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 502,978. .
A note on the board read: “Cases by publication date of October 3 and 4 include 15,841 additional cases with sample dates between September 25 and October 2; therefore, they are artificially high for England and the United States. United Kingdom”.
Public Health England Acting Chief Executive Officer Michael Brodie said a “technical issue” was identified overnight on Friday, October 2 in the process transferring positive Covid-19 lab results to reporting panels.
“After a quick investigation, we have identified that 15,841 cases between September 25 and October 2 were not included in the daily reported Covid-19 cases. Most of these cases occurred in the most recent days,” he said.
“Each of these cases received the Covid-19 test result as normal and all those who tested positive were advised to isolate themselves.”
He said they worked with NHS Test and Trace to “quickly resolve the issue and transferred all pending cases immediately to the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing system.”
“We fully understand the concern this may cause and more robust measures have been put in place as a result,” he said.
- How many cases are there in your area?
- What are the Covid rules where you live?
Test and Trace and Public Health England joint medical advisor Susan Hopkins added that “a comprehensive public health risk assessment was carried out to ensure that outstanding cases were prioritized for contact tracing effectively” .
PHE said that NHS Test and Trace has ensured that there are enough contact trackers in place and is working with local teams to ensure that they also have sufficient resources to be able to urgently contact all cases.
The number of call attempts increases from 10 to 15 in 96 hours.
Labor’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “This is chaotic and people across the country will be understandably alarmed.”
“(Health Secretary) Matt Hancock should come to the House of Commons on Monday to explain what the hell has happened, what impact it has had on our ability to contain this virus and what he plans to do to correct the testing and tracking.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health previously said that the problem had not affected the people who received the test results and that all those who tested positive had been reported in the usual way.
News of the failure in the daily count first emerged on Saturday night, when the UK announced more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time since mass testing began.
The government said the technical problem meant that some cases during the week were not recorded at the time, so they were included in Saturday’s data.
The daily total saw a significant increase from 4,044 on Monday to a high of 7,143 on Tuesday. However, for the next four days, the daily total remained stable, varying between 6,914 and 7,108, at a time when continued increases could have been expected.
Then came the big jump in the numbers, a day-by-day increase far greater than at any point in the entire pandemic, which was announced on Saturday, five hours later than usual, and was accompanied by the government’s explanation.
- DO YOU HAVE ‘LAPTOP SYNDROME’ ?: Tips to avoid this condition if you work from home
- LOVE LIFE: Feel like getting away? Watch the addictive new series starring Anna Kendrick
[ad_2]