Louise Minchin grills Tory MP in heated test and trace debate: 'Are you checking at all?'

Louise, 51, and her BBC Breakfast co-host Charlie Stayt, 58, were joined on the show by Simon Clarke, 35, as cases of coronavirus continue to rise across the country. Now, more than ever, the Government’s test and trace system is paramount to try and subside the risk of a second wave becoming greater than the first. With several parts of the nation already going back in local lockdowns, the BBC presenter wanted to understand just how the operation to identify who has had COVID-19 and the people they’ve come into contact with is working as it’s still in its infancy.

The broadcaster said: “Let’s talk about Blackburn. Health chiefs say they’re battling a major outbreak and they say the national tracing service is reaching only 52 percent of all close contacts."

Clarke replied: “Well, we continue to work very closely with the authorities in Blackburn and I’ve spoken myself to both the council leader and the local MP and I know officials at the Department of Health continue to do likewise.

“As I say, this is a system which is undoubtedly still maturing but we are also confident it is helping to take people who may have been exposed to coronavirus and make sure they’re self-isolating.

“Every person that this system reaches and every person who follows the guidance is helping to protect wider society. We obviously want that to continue to increase.”

However, Minchin picked up on one fact and asked the politician: “You talk about them self-isolating, do you know they are doing that?”

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After some hesitation, the politician added: “If you think about people with the quarantine scheme, officials from Public Health England do conduct random checks.

“But in the end, like all systems, this does rest upon people complying with regulations which are there for them and the wider public’s protection.

“There is no way in which that could be different in a society like ours,” he continued.

The debate comes as scientists have warned a “better” test and trace system needs to be implemented before pupils return to the classroom later this year.

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A study, published in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, states a second wave could be prevented if 75 percent of people with symptoms were identified and 68 percent of their contacts went on to self-isolate.

Alternatively, the research suggests 80 percent of individuals with symptoms are traced and 40 percent of people they’ve come into contact with take action to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Dr Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths, from University College London, said: “With UK schools reopening fully in September, prevention of a second wave will require a major scale-up of testing to test 75 percent of symptomatic infections.

“Combined with tracing of 68 percent of their contacts, and isolation of symptomatic and diagnosed cases,” she told the BBC.