More than a third of close contacts still not being reached by test and trace across Shropshire
More than a third of close contacts of people with coronavirus are still not being reached by the test and trace system across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, new figures suggest.
However, the system covering Shropshire, not including Telford and Wrekin, has had the highest success rate in the West Midlands region.
Data from the Department for Health and Social care shows 5,192 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Shropshire were transferred to the Test and Trace service between May 28 and December 2.
That means 296 new cases were transferred in the latest seven-day period.
Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.
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This led to 11,249 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 just 66.3 per cent of those were reached, meaning 3,787 people were not contacted or did not respond.
That was slightly up from the 65.4 per cent reached in the period to November 25, and was the highest proportion in the West Midlands, where 62.3 per cent of contacts were reached on average.
The statistics also show that 3,962 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Telford and Wrekin were transferred to the Test and Trace service between May 28 and December 2 – 289 new cases were transferred in the latest seven-day period.
It led to 9,336 close contacts being identified over the period, but only 65.1 per cent of those were reached, meaning 3,256 people were not contacted or did not respond.
However, it was a rise from the 63.8 per cent reached in the period to November 25.
Across England, 84.7 per cent 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 December 2.
Local health protection teams deal with cases linked to settings such as hospitals, schools and prisons.
The contact tracing rate including these cases was 85.7 per cent, up from 72.6 per cent the week before.
Around 92,000 new cases were transferred nationally in the week to December 2.
