TRACK TO THE FUTURE
THE UK's coronavirus test and trace system will go live today - under plans to free 60 million from lockdown, Boris Johnson has said.
Brits will be told to “do their civic duty” and stay at home if they are identified as having come into contact with a positive Covid case.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
But the “ground-breaking” NHS app being trialled on the Isle of Wight is still not ready to launch.
Instead, the scheme will rely on 25,000 trackers who will use detective work to trace at-risk Brits.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock unveiled the Government’s new NHS Test and Trace system at the Downing Street press briefing today.
He said anyone with symptoms will now be told to immediately self-isolate alongside their household and get quickly tested for the bug.
From 9am today, all confirmed cases will also be quizzed about their movements and asked to hand over phone numbers and emails of their closest contacts.
Up to 10,000 people a day could then texted or called by specially-trained trackers to say they have been near an infected individual and are now at risk.
They will be urged to stay indoors for 14 days - but will not be offered tests until they show symptoms.
'Your civic duty'
Speaking at No10, Mr Hancock said: "If you get symptoms, isolate immediately and get a test.
"If you are contacted by NHS test and trace instructing you to isolate, you must.
"It is your civic duty, so you avoid unknowingly spreading the virus and you help to break the chain of transmission."
If anyone has symptoms at all they must order a coronavirus test from the NHS website or by calling 119.
However, the scheme will be voluntary – with no fines or other sanctions for those who fail to reveal contacts or stay put.
Mr Hancock added: "We trust everyone to do the right thing but we can quickly make it mandatory if that’s what it takes.
"If we don’t collectively make this work then the only way forward is to keep the lockdown.
Do it for the people you love, do it for your community, do it for the NHS, and do it for all those frontline workers,
Matt Hancock
"The more people who follow the instructions the safer we will be and the faster we can safely lift the lockdown.
"So do it for the people you love, do it for your community, do it for the NHS, and do it for all those frontline workers, who have gone out every day to put themselves at risk and keep you and your family safe.
"In return for following those instructions, you’ll have the knowledge that when the call came you did your bit at a time where it really mattered.
"When the whole country - who are desperate to see their families - were counting on you to do the right thing.
"You did your bit to bring us all closer together and closer to the day when we can be reunited."
Coronavirus: England's COVID-19 test and trace system to help ease lockdown explained
Brits who have already tested positive for Covid or antibodies against the virus will not be exempt – despite suggestions they are immune to the bug.
Close contacts include anyone who has been within a metre of a confirmed case in the previous two days, or spent more than 15 minutes with them one to two metres apart.
It would extend to people who have travelled in the same car for anything longer than a short journey.
But an entire school will not be closed down and pupils isolated if a teacher comes down with the bug.
'Whack-a-mole' tactics
However, the Prime Minister stressed that no one will face fines for breaking the rules - yet.
If they don't comply then he will consider bringing in tough penalties.
And the Government will use "whack-a-mole" tactics to lockdown specific areas if any flare-ups occur, he said.
Boris Johnson told MPs: "I would just say it’s worth it because that is the tool that other countries have used to unlock the prison.
"That captivity for a tiny minority for a short time will allow us gradually to release millions of people from the current situation.
"This is our way out, this is our way of defeating the virus, getting our country back on its feet and I think people will want to work together.
"Of course we will keep sanctions on the table and as we develop the system we will review constantly."
The PM admitted that it was a "grave imposition" on the nation but insisted that people have "got to do it" for the good of the nation.
It will only be a "small minority of the population" who need to isolate, and it would mean the over 66 million people who don't can get on with their day-to-day lives.
However, he did admit the "brutal reality" was that Britain had failed to learn the lessons of previous viruses Sars and Mers.
"Unfortunately we did not have the capacity in Pubic Health England - we didn't have the enzymes, we just didn't have the volume.
"Nor did we have enough experience trackers ready to mount the kind of operation.
"The brutal reality is this country did not learn the lessons of Sars or Mers and we did not have a test operation ready to go on the scale we needed."
Brits will have to hand over their contact details if they test positive, but no information will be handed over to the police if people break lockdown rules.
Play your part
Dido Harding, Executive Chair of NHS Test and Trace, confirmed that people who do not comply will not face fines - but that penalties are a future option if large numbers refuse to co-operate.
She said: "NHS test and trace is a service that is designed to enable the vast majority of us to be able to get on with our lives in a much more normal way.
"But it requires all of us to do our civic duty.
"We will be trading national lockdown to individual isolation if we have symptoms.
“I'm asking everyone to play their part in protecting themselves, their families, and their loved ones.
“I have great faith and confidence in the British public's desire to play their part.
“Instead of 60 million people being in national lockdown, a much smaller number of us will be told we need to stay at home, either for seven days if we are ill or 14 days if we have been in close contact."
3
Baroness Harding admitted the scheme is likely to have teething problems but that it will get “better day by day”.
And said the app will launch “soon” and be the “cherry on the cake”.
Scientists estimate rapidly isolating Brits who have been in contact with a positive Covid case could slash spread by 15 per cent.
They claim officials will have to warn those at risk within three days for the track and trace system to work well.
Any delays in testing and alerting contacts would see infection rates reduced by just five per cent.
Anne Johnson, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London, is part of the Royal Society team that modelled the impact of track and trace.
She said: “If effectively delivered, test, trace and isolate plays an important part in bringing the pandemic under control.
“But it’s not a magic bullet.
“The added value of adding tracing of contacts outside your household… reduces the number of new infections which would otherwise have occurred by five to 15 per cent.”
Frontline NHS and care staff who have had prolonged contact with Covid cases will not have to self-isolate as long as they were wearing protective kit at the time.
Those self-isolating will be eligible for statutory sick pay, while the self-employed will be able to access cash grants.
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS
Experts said it is worrying the scheme has been launched without the NHS app, which aims to speed up tracing of at-risk cases.
Professor Eivor Oborn, an expert on health technology at Warwick Business School, said: "It is a problematic sign.
"It is imperative the technology actually works. Manual tracing alone is too slow, and if there is a second spike it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to locate contacts fast enough.”
A study by Sheffield Community Contact Tracers found two-thirds do not fully comply with isolation advice after being near an infected person.
3
3
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS - STAY IN THE KNOW
Don't miss the latest news and figures - and essential advice for you and your family.
To receive The Sun's Coronavirus newsletter in your inbox every tea time, sign up here.
To follow us on Facebook, simply 'Like' our Coronavirus page.
Get Britain's best-selling newspaper delivered to your smartphone or tablet each day - find out more.
Coronavirus test and trace to go live TOMORROW and there could be fines for breaking rules, Boris Johnson confirms