Test and trace less successful in poorer areas

Figures suggest that England’s poorest communities are at greater risk of a second wave of coronavirus owing to imbalances in the national test-and-trace system.

Data obtained by the Guardian shows that a much lower proportion of at-risk people are being contacted and told to self-isolate in deprived towns than in wealthier areas. For example in Blackpool, 37 per cent of people who had been in close contact with an infected person were not reached by the system. This compares with nine per cent in Cheshire East, which includes the affluent towns of Knutsford and Wilmslow.

Similarly, in Knowsley, Merseyside, more than one in three at-risk people were not contacted, compared with one in 10 in Trafford.

The five local authorities with the lowest contact-tracing rate – Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Knowsley, Rochdale and Oldham – all have among the highest proportion of more deprived neighbourhoods in England.

Although not definite, the divide likely means that fewer people in deprived communities are self-isolating after being in close contact with an infected person, potentially worsening outbreaks in areas where people are already twice as likely to die from coronavirus as those in less deprived areas.

Under the current system, contact tracers attempt to reach close contacts of an infected person by text, email or up to 10 times by phone call. The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has said that at least 80 per cent of contacts would need to isolate for the test-and-trace system to be effective and that any delay beyond 48-72 hours in someone self-isolating would result in a significant increase to the infection rate.