NHS Test and Trace statistics for 8 October to 14 October

NHS Test and Trace continued to reach the majority of positive cases and their contacts, with a total of 1,133,094 people having been reached by the service since it was started.

This week saw the service successfully reach 80.7% of people who tested positive and 75.1% of contacts where communication details were provided.

Since NHS Test and Trace launched, 82.3% of all contacts where communication details were given have been reached and told to self-isolate.

The number of people testing positive during the week of 8 to 14 October was 101,494, an increase of more than 11,000 compared with the previous week. The number of tests processed during the week was 1,729,565 (pillars 1 and 2), broadly consistent with the previous week, latest figures show.

Testing capacity (pillars 1 and 2) for the 20th week of operation increased by more than 5% from the previous week. With 572 testing sites now open across the UK, 200 of which are local walk-through testing sites, the median distance being travelled for in-person tests has dropped for the 4th consecutive week, now down to just 2.9 miles from 3.2 miles in the previous week.

The weekly statistics from the 20th week of NHS Test and Trace show in the most recent week of operations (8 to 14 October):

a total of 1,729,565 tests were processed (pillars 1 and 2), a 3% increase from the previous week
80.7% of people who tested positive and were transferred to the contact-tracing system were reached and asked to provide information about their contacts, compared with 79.9% the previous week
75.1% of contacts where communication details were given were reached and told to self-isolate, compared with 77.2% the previous week
33.4% of in-person test results were received the next day after the test was taken, compared with 68.3% the previous week
15.1% of in-person test results were received within 24 hours after the test was taken, compared with 32.8% the previous week

NHS Test and Trace continues to drive forward local contract tracing as part of our commitment to being locally led. There are currently 100 local tracing partnerships in operation, as part of ongoing collaboration between national and local teams to ensure that people who test positive, and their contacts, are successfully reached by contact tracers. The model means local authorities can use their expertise and resources to increase the proportion of people reached by NHS Test and Trace.

As of 14 October, the NHS COVID-19 app has been downloaded 17,679,872 times and 684,449 QR posters have been generated.

Interim Executive Chair of the National Institute for Health Protection Baroness Dido Harding said:

I’m grateful to every single person who is playing their part in NHS Test and Trace to make sure that people who need one can get a test, we protect the most vulnerable, and we continue to reach the majority of positive cases and their contacts.

Reducing turnaround times is our absolute priority to make sure we are reaching people as soon as possible. We always need to balance ensuring as many people as possible can get a test alongside ensuring test results are delivered as quickly as possible, and as capacity continues to grow at pace, we expect to see improvements.

Partnerships across the public, private and educational sectors, alongside rapid advancements in technology and our ongoing recruitment drive, are helping us ensure that we meet our target of 500,000 a day by the end of October. Nearly 30,000 testing capacity has been added in the last week, which will result in faster turnaround times going forward.

Strengthening our partnerships with local public health teams, meanwhile, will further improve the speed with which we are able to trace and contact people in their communities.

Health Minister Lord Bethell said:

Across the country, our people are working tirelessly to increase testing capacity week on week, to ensure everyone who should have a test can get one. On all fronts, we’re increasing our resources to ensure we can meet the challenge of the coming winter.

We’re rightfully proud of our achievements, as we continue to test more per head that any other European country. However, we do know that more needs to be done. To this end, we’re constantly looking for new ways to improve the service, scoping out new technologies, partnerships and ways of working to equip us to better support our people, locally and nationally.

Since 15 October the number of people tested in a reporting week has been deduplicated for the respective week. Therefore, if someone had multiple tests in a reporting week they would only be counted once.

The previous methodology reported on the number of people newly tested and newly tested positive each week based on deduplication since testing began. These figures continue to be published as a cumulative measure of the total number of people tested at least once since Test and Trace began.

The new methodology allows a positivity rate to be calculated and compared between weeks.