Hertfordshire's Covid contact tracing performance drops for seventh week

The figures are from the Department for Health and Social care
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Hertfordshire's Covid contact tracing success rate has fallen for the seventh week running, amid a record number of new positive cases.

Data from the Department for Health and Social care shows 12,470 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Hertfordshire were transferred to the Test and Trace service between May 28 and November 18.

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That means 2,065 new cases were transferred in the latest seven-day period – the largest increase since the regime began.

Hertfordshire's Covid contact tracing performance drops for seventh weekHertfordshire's Covid contact tracing performance drops for seventh week
Hertfordshire's Covid contact tracing performance drops for seventh week

Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.

This led to 30,004 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 61.3% were reached – a figure that has fallen steadily over a seven-week period.

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Across England, 58.8% 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 November 18.

Local health protection teams deal with cases linked to settings such as hospitals, schools and prisons.

The contact tracing rate including these cases was 60.3% – up slightly from the week before when it was 60.7%.

Yesterday (Thursday) the government announced which areas would be placed in each tier of the new three tier system, Hertfordshire has been placed in Tier 2. Read full story here.