Coronavirus contact tracing: 'Not clear' how quickly done

It is not clear how quickly Wales' contact tracing system is working, according to the health minister.

Vaughan Gething said people were contacted "in a matter of days but what I want to have is more detail".

Statistics show 81% of positive cases were reached and 84% of their contacts were contacted between 21-27 June.

But the figures do not show how long it takes from contacting someone who tests positive to asking their contacts to self-isolate.

The Welsh Government's contact tracing system - Test, Trace, Protect - asks for the details of all the people an individual who tests positive has had contact with.

Those people are then asked to self-isolate for 14 days to prevent the virus spreading further.

Speaking on BBC Politics Wales, Mr Gething said statistics relating to the speed of that system had not been published because "we need to get the data right so we're not providing misleading data to the public and that's really important".

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Asked if he had private data as to how quickly the system is working, Mr Gething said: "It isn't clear because there are things we need to sort out in the back-end system.

"I know that we're getting to over 84% of our contacts and I know we're getting to them in a matter of days.

"But what I want to have is more detail on how many people we're getting to within 24 hours of knowing who the contacts are, how many within 36, 48 and so on.

"I couldn't tell you the exact detail on all those points because it changes day-to-day," he added.

The speed of processing Covid-19 tests is an important part of the system, with new figures published this week showing the proportion of tests turned around within 24 hours fell to just 35.1% a few weeks ago.

Vaughan Gething: "We're looking at what we do to improve"

New data giving a breakdown of weekly performance shows that last week, 49.4% of results were processed within a day and 74.4% within two days.

The government's scientific advisers have said contact tracing systems "perceived to be most successful" require results within 24 hours.

Speaking on the BBC Politics Wales programme on 14 June, Mr Gething said: "We get about 90% within 48 hours and that's what you need to have an effective system."

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But the weekly breakdown figures show that the number of tests processed within 48 hours has been below 90% since the week ending 17 May.

Asked about the discrepancy in the figures, Mr Gething said: "The point is that we're looking at what we do to improve."

Welsh Conservative health spokeswoman Angela Burns MS said: "It is a scandal that only half of Covid test results in Wales are being turned around in a day compared to two-thirds of a similar number of daily tests were being processed in this time just a few weeks ago.

"Ministers need to get a grip and turn this situation around to ensure an effective testing system is in place as we reopen Wales," she added.