Downing Street said there was a short delay in the testing and traceability system in England, asking some people who tested positive to provide details of who they had been in contact with.
It comes after a BBC report claimed that failed tests and tracings were partly responsible for a surge of the Indian variant in one of the worst-affected regions of the country.
A report found that eight local authorities in England did not have access to complete data on positive tests in their area for three weeks in April and May, the BBC said, and the largest number of missing cases were in Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire.
Blackburn is one of the worst places in the country for the Indian variant, with health secretary Matt Hancock warning that it is “becoming the dominant strain.”
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Blackpool, which like Blackburn is found in the North West, York, Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson told reporters on Thursday: “In this specific case, all positive cases have been contacted and asked to self-isolate for 10 days.
“As you know, there was a short delay when we asked some of these positive cases to provide details of who they had contacted since the signing of COVID.
“This problem affected a small number of local authority areas and was quickly resolved.”
Asked if the failure contributed to the spread of the variant, the spokesperson said: “The spread of the variant will be due to a number of factors – this was an issue that occurred in a small number of local authority areas, so I don’t think it’s possible to draw that conclusion. “
The BBC reported that between April 21 …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-05-20 12:34:00
