England test and trace: what senior ministers promised and when
A test-and-trace system to tackle coronavirus in England has been in the pipeline for some time, with Boris Johnson claiming it would be “world-beating” and in place by 1 June. However it appears to be taking longer than expected to get off the ground, and Boris Johnson was forced to defend himself on Wednesday against Sir Keir Starmer’s claim that it was not yet fully operational despite the deadline having passed. Here is a timeline of quotes about the system from key ministers, from when it was announced in mid-April to early June.
17 April
Matthew Hancock, the health and social secretary, says the government will rebuild the teams of contact tracers as part of a renewed testing and tracing strategy.
That brings together teams from NHSX, who are leading on the app, with a huge array of partners that are working within that, [and] from Public Health England, who are the experts on what we refer to as external contact tracing.
We do need to have comprehensive test, track and trace in place as soon as possible. And we need to get the technology right, we need to have the people, and we’re building that resource, and obviously we need to have the testing and we’re ramping that up as well. So we do need to have all three of those in place and we’re working incredibly hard to make sure that we are.
20 May
Johnson, the prime minister, says:
We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and, yes, it will be in place by June 1.
27 May
Hancock says:
As we move to the next stage of our fight against coronavirus we will be able to replace national lockdowns with individual isolation and, if necessary, local action where there are outbreaks.
NHS test and trace will be vital to stopping the spread of the virus. It is how we will be able to protect our friends and family from infection, and protect our NHS.
This new system will help us keep this virus under control while carefully and safely lifting the lockdown nationally.
1 June
Hancock says:
The level of incidence of disease has come down and so actually we have more capacity than we need, this is a good thing.
I think to err on the side of having too many contact tracers is the right side to err on. I’d rather have too many people trained and ready to go.
3 June
Boris Johnson tells MPs:
Thousands of people are being tested every day. Every person who tests positive in the test and trace programme is then contacted, then thousands of their contacts are then contacted, people they have been in contact with.
At the moment as a result of our test, track and trace system… thousands of people are now following our guidance, following the law, and self-isolating to stop the spread of the disease.
Johnson rejects the Labour leader’s claim that the government’s test and trace system is not yet fully operational.
I’m afraid he’s casting aspersions on the efforts of tens of thousands of people who have set up a test, track and trace system in this country from a standing start. We now have 40,000 people engaged in this.
