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.

This is the first quarterly report on progress to address the findings of Public Health England’s (PHE) review into disparities in the risks and outcomes of COVID-19.

The PHE review set out some of what was known at the time about COVID-19 and ethnicity.  It told us what the disparities in risks and outcomes were, but not why they had arisen or what could be done about them.

The Race Disparity Unit has been working collaboratively across government and with the Office for National Statistics, and is liaising with universities and researchers to build the evidence base and to get a better understanding of what is driving these disparities.

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Responding to today’s NHS workforce statistics, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:   

As a nation, we are immensely proud of our health and care staff who work round the clock to keep us safe. It is fantastic that there are over 13,700 more nurses and 7,800 more doctors working in our NHS, and by the end of this Parliament we will deliver on our commitment of 50,000 more nurses.

While this virus remains a perilous threat it is critical that the public observes the restrictions in their area, so our NHS and care staff can continue to do their incredible work. Help us to help you, so the NHS is always there for us in our hour of need.

Alongside this, the latest UCAS figures out last month show there are record numbers of people accepting a place to study nursing in England, with a 23% increase on the same time last year, or 5,000 more student nurses.

Over the summer, the NHS People Plan set out how the NHS will put staff wellbeing at its heart with a new recruitment, retention and support package. It sets out practical support for wellbeing such as safe spaces to rest and recuperate, wellbeing guardians and support to keep staff physically safe and healthy.

This week the NHS announced £15 million to strengthen mental health support for nurses, paramedics, therapists, pharmacists and support staff. Staff will get rapid access to expanded mental health services that are being rolled out across the country as part of efforts to deal with the second wave of coronavirus.

The figures for July include some former healthcare professionals who bravely volunteered to return to the frontline during the pandemic. July figures also show that 598 returners were identified, of which there are 80 doctors and 147 nurses and health visitors. Not all returners are reflected in the monthly workforce stats as they could have been employed on fixed-term, honorary or bank contracts, or via NHS Professionals.

Today, NHS Digital has published its monthly NHS workforce data for July 2020.

Over the last year (July 2019 to July 2020):

• the number of nurses has gone up by 13,718, from 281,474 to 295,193
• the number of doctors has gone up by 7,810, from 112,797 to 120,607

Student nurses do not have full registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and so are counted as ‘support to clinical staff’. They are not included in the ‘nurses’ count. Medical students are on the same standing as Foundation 1 doctors, and so are counted as ‘doctors’ in the statistics.

NHS Professionals is an organisation in the UK that supplies temporary staff to the NHS.

• New rules and logos to guarantee authenticity and origin of British produce
• Products, such as Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies, will carry new logo to help shoppers buy with confidence.
• British food and drink companies to benefit from protection from imitation

New rules and logos to protect British food and drink, guaranteeing the authenticity of regional and traditional foods for shoppers and protecting British producers from imitation, have been set out today.

At the end of the Transition Period, the new and independent Geographical Indications (GI) schemes will make sure that popular and traditional produce from across the country will be granted special status to mark out their authenticity and origin, for example Scotch whisky and Welsh lamb.

This means that shoppers will be able to buy their favourite food and drink with confidence, and producers whose foods are granted GI status will benefit from intellectual property protection so that others cannot imitate them. GIs are highly valued by producers and are exemplars of the wide range of quality British products enjoyed around the world. They represent around a quarter of UK food and drink exports by value, approaching £6bn in export value in 2019.

GIs are only awarded to highlight regional and traditional foods whose authenticity and origin can be guaranteed. The new logos representing the unique and protected nature of these products to consumers have been unveiled today, which can be displayed on all British produce which is given GI status.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

The new UK protected food name scheme will replace the old EU one and will ensure that we continue to recognise and celebrate protected food names and local recipes across our country.

The new logos launched today will become a staple on supermarket aisles in the UK and mean shoppers will be able to pick the best of British, from Scotch whisky and Welsh lamb to Cornish clotted cream.

There are three UK GI logos, which were developed in conjunction with GI producers, Devolved Administrations and consumers, which mark each designation of geographical indication:

• Protected designation of origin (PDO)
• Protected geographical indication (PGI)
• Traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG)

The UK GI schemes will replace the EU’s schemes on 1 January 2021 as the Transition Period ends. Legislation laid in Parliament today will:

• Provide the legal framework in England, Scotland and Wales to administer and enforce the GI schemes
• Ensure continued protection of existing UK-origin GIs and non-UK GIs agreed through trade agreements
• Establish the new UK logo in law and ensure EU GI logos are no longer required on GB products
• Simplify the application process.

Registered producers of British food, drink and agricultural GI products that are required to use the logos will have until 1 January 2024 to change packaging to display the new UK GI logos. This timeframe will enable producers, who have been consulted extensively on the scheme, to introduce the logos to their products in good time. Guidance is available on GOV.UK including for the simplified process on new UK GI application.

Nicholas Rodda, Managing Director, Rodda’s Creamery

The UK is celebrated for producing some of the very best food and drink in the world. The new GI status will not only strengthen the authenticity of our Cornish clotted cream on a global stage, but also provide new opportunities for our business conversations internationally.

We were delighted to be involved in the development of the GI logos, ensuring the prestigious nature of the PDO is represented within the new designs. The new GI status will ensure consumers can continue to enjoy Cornish clotted cream with knowledge that it has been made in Cornwall, with Cornish milk and crafted using traditional methods.

Anglesey Sea Salt Halen Mon PDO, welcomes the continued protection of its name and special characteristics:

In a world of cheap imitations and pressures on costs, it’s important for producers and consumers alike to be able to depend on a marque which is a guarantee of authenticity and quality.

All UK products currently protected under the EU’s GI schemes will continue to be protected in the UK and the EU after the end of the transition period.

The UK Government is also currently working to expand and increase the number of GI protections through Free Trade Agreements. The recently announced UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will offer new protection for more iconic UK goods – increasing GIs from just seven under the terms of the EU-Japan deal to potentially over 70 under this new agreement, which would lead to improved recognition of key UK brands in the Japanese market.