An error in the software used by Test and Trace meant that the contact-tracing service gave contacts of people who had tested positive for coronavirus the wrong dates for the start and end of their quarantine.
A total of 7,230 people in England were affected, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has revealed
Most were contacted with new advice on when their self-isolation period should end. But 2,455 individuals had already finished self-isolating before they could be reached.
The government’s chief scientific adviser has said models showing potential Covid-19 daily death figures are not intended to “scare people” but to give the public a “scenario” of what could happen if nothing is done to tackle the virus.
Sir Patrick Vallance was questioned by MPs at the Science and Technology Committee over a model he presented at the most recent government press conference, which showed there could be 4,000 coronavirus deaths a day by the peak of the second wave.
One MP suggested the model would have “frightened a lot of people around the country”, to which Sir Patrick said that was not his intention.
I positioned that, and if that didn’t come across then I regret that, but I positioned that as a scenario from a couple of weeks ago, based on an assumption to try and get a new reasonable worst-case scenario.
Sir Patrick added that the 4,000 deaths figure was a model, not a forecast, but defended the figure against criticism that it was based on old data, saying “I don’t think it is fair to say it is discredited”.
