More than 31,000 close contacts were identified during the first week of the test and trace system in England, figures show.This was from 8,000 people testing positive for coronavirus - two-thirds of whom provided details of their close contacts.The NHS figures, which cover 28 May to 3 June, are the first to be released showing the progress of the contact tracing scheme.
Baroness Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace in England, said there was still"more to do to improve the speed" of the system but she said"the vast majority of people are participating and playing their part".The system has been unable to reach 15% of close contacts, either because they were unavailable, their contact details were wrong or they did not respond to texts, emails or calls from contact tracers.Some who were reached did not agree to self-isolate.