Covid-19 coronavirus track and trace measures 'depend on keeping infection rate down'

While tracking and tracing contacts for those infected with Covid-19 can be helpful, it works best when infection rates are as low as possible, today's Downing Street briefing has heard.

The national medical director of NHS England, Stephen Powis, said contact tracing was a "very tried and tested" way of managing disease outbreak, but worked best when infection rates were as low as possible.

"To give an example, if you have 4000 new cases a day, each with around 30 people to trace - that's 120,000 contacts to trace.

"Getting the infection rate as low as possible will put us in the position where contact tracing will be as effective as possible.

"To get to that point we have to maintain social distancing."

Earlier today, during the Scottish Government's regular coronavirus briefing, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said it was looking to recruit up to 2000 volunteers to help with contact tracing.

The Downing Street briefing was led by UK environment secretary George Eustace who insisted that food availability was "back to normal" in supermarkets and that absence rates among those who worked in the food supply industry had fallen from around 20 per cent to less than 10 per cent, helping boost supply.

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