JACKIE Baillie has warned that Scotland’s Test and Protect system is “reaching breaking point” as officials struggle to keep up with a surge in positive Covid cases.
The Scottish Labour deputy leader and health spokesperson has highlighted contact rates and times from Test and Protect having declined over recent weeks as recorded cases increased to an all time high.
But Nicola Sturgeon said Test and Protect is able to "flex their resources" to help keep things under control and is meeting World Health Organization (WHO) targets for contacts being traced and quarantined within 72 hours.
Yesterday, 3,285 new cases were recorded, the highest ever daily figure while worst-case scenario modelling for the Scottish Government predicts 100,000 cases per week by mid-July.
READ MORE: Covid: Scottish Government modellers warn cases could hit 100,000 a week by mid-July
Ms Baillie has claimed that Test and Protect officials have struggled to keep up with this increase, with the proportion of cases closed within 24 hours halving from a peak of 80% in early April to just 40% in June.
The most recent Covid-19 statistical report shows that one 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 significantly reduced – with Ms Baillie pointing the finger at the Scottish Government, claiming officials failed to provide the resources needed to cope with the new “traffic light” travel system, increasing the risk of importation of new strains of the virus.
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%.
Ms Baillie 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.”
She added: “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 First Minister admitted that Test and Protect officials will be under more strain, given the rise in case numbers – but stressed that WHO targets of dealing with cases within 72 hours are being met.
She said: “Test and Protect obviously comes under much more pressure the higher case numbers are because bluntly there is more work for it to do.
“We have a duty, an obligation, to monitor that to make sure it has the resources it needs.
“Test and Protect will have been working under much more pressure over the past week than it has done at any point since probably the early part of this year. I’m not complacent about that.”
Ms Sturgeon added: “If I look at the most recent figures for the week up to June 20, against the WHO criteria of 80% of new cases having close contacts traced and in quarantine within 72 hours of case confirmation...the performance for Test and Protect was 95.4%.
“It’s meeting that target but we continue to assess.
“Test and Protect will also, like any organisation and system like that, will flex their resources to make sure they are meeting the greatest need - they are making much more use of text messaging, for example, so that someone who has been asked to self-isolate is getting that notification as quickly as possible.”
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