By Lucy Ashton
Scottish Labour and the LibDems have warned that Test and Protect can’t keep up with the growing number of Covid cases.
Contact rates and times have declined over recent weeks as recorded cases increased to an all time high. On 28 June 3,285 new cases were recorded, the highest ever daily figure.
Test and Protect have struggled to keep up with this increase, with the proportion of test and protect cases closed within 24 hours halving from a peak of 80% in early April to 40% in June.
The most recent Covid-19 Statistical Report shows that a third of cases from that week hadn’t completed contact tracing by the time of publication.
Meanwhile, the contact rate for those travelling from abroad has plummeted after the Scottish Government failed to provide the resources needed to cope with the new “traffic light” travel system, increasing the risk of importation of new strains.
In the first week of May, before the new system came into place, 92% of those quarantining at home were contacted. By the second week of June this had fallen to just 43%.
Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie, right, said: “Once again our test and protect system is reaching breaking point.
“Staff are working tirelessly to keep on top of the growing number of cases but the system simply cannot cope.
“It did not come as a surprise to anyone that cases would increase as restrictions lift. The government’s failure to prepare for this is a downright dereliction of duty.
“If only the SNP spent as much time trying to improve these dismal figures as they do deciding how to spin them. Having a robust test and protect system in place is how we contain the virus in the future.
“We urgently need to put the resources in place to make sure test and protect is able to cope and bring the spread of the virus under control.”
The LibDems too today warned that Test and Protect is “buckling under pressure” and urged the Scottish Government to provide reinforcements after new figures showed the performance of the system has worsened significantly in recent weeks.
Public Health Scotland’s report today shows:
- There has been a significant increase in the time taken between Test and Protect logging a case and the individual who tested positive being interviewed
- In the week ending 20 June, 50% of people were interviewed within 24 hours. Between 21 and 25 June this dropped to just 29%.
- In the same week, the proportion of people waiting over 48 hours for an interview increased from 15% to 28%, meaning hundreds more people were waiting a long time to be interviewed.
The report also showed contact tracing being stripped back as a result of capacity issues, with secondary contact tracing no longer being undertaken and the calling of those arriving from red countries being paused on 23 June.
Wendy Chamberlain MP commented: “These are clear indications that the Test and Protect system is buckling under pressure. It’s taking far too long to gather critical information.
“People have made huge sacrifices to save lives and buy time. We warned last summer that gaps in Test and Protect would contribute to a second wave. We warned in December that the system needed ramping up to meet the challenge of new strains.
“The Scottish Government has had months to plan for this increase in cases and the management of fans around the EUROs but spent that all time insisting everything was working well. That complacency is now really costing us.
“The system needs urgent reinforcements. We need more tracers to be able to go and hunt down the virus because every minute counts.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today called on the new Health Secretary to ensure that healthcare workers who may come into contact with covid-positive patients are issued with high grade FFP3 masks rather than standard issue surgical masks.
His call comes after research from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust found wearing an FFP3 mask can provide up to 100% protection. By contrast, there is a far greater chance of staff wearing standard issue surgical masks catching the virus.
In October 2020, Mr Rennie asked the Scottish Government to review its guidance on what type of masks are issued to healthcare workers after being contacted by staff concerned that the current surgical masks do not afford adequate protection when caring for positive or suspected positive Covid patients. These calls were rejected by then Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.
Staff who are treating positive or suspected positive patients are currently issued with Fluid Resistant surgical masks (FRSM), rather than the higher quality FFP3 masks, which are reserved for “aerosol generating procedures”.
Mr Rennie, left, said: “It is now more than six months since I was first approached by medical staff concerned that the masks they were being issued with were not fit for purpose.
“At the time the Health Secretary rejected my pleas to even review the guidance. This research confirms that she was downright wrong.
“We have all had to learn fast with this virus, but too often opportunities to improve our response and help those on the ground passed the Scottish Government by.
“Keeping our NHS staff safe doesn’t just ensure there are enough people available to help patients effectively. It’s also the right thing to do to make sure they themselves are kept safe.
“I hope that the Health Secretary will apologise to the brave staff who have been exposed to unnecessary risk for so many months, and ensure that FFP3 masks are now the norm when caring for suspected or confirmed Covid patients.”
ENDS