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THE UK’S HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock believes that the “vast majority” of the British public will abide by the new rules of the test and trace system, and laughed at the idea that it had been launched to distract from the Dominic Cummings controversy.
When asked on Sky News whether the Test and Trace system was being rushed through as a distraction, Matt Hancock laughed, and said that he’s usually accused of not acting fast enough.
This comes amid reports by Sky News that some contact tracers do not have their basic systems up and running yet; the UK’s Department of Health has insisted that the “vast majority of our 25,000 staff have completed their training”.
Kay Burley / Twitter“It’s priceless Kay, I’m usually accused of delaying these things and bringing them in too slowly.”@MattHancock denies claims the government has rushed in its test and trace system to take the spotlight off Dominic Cummings. JM #KayBurley pic.twitter.com/jmEHVxSmh0
— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) May 28, 2020
The UK’s contact tracing system, called ‘Test and Trace’, will be rolled out across England today – although the accompanying app is still delayed by several weeks.
Under the new system, manned by around 25,000 contact tracers, people who come into close contact with a coronavirus sufferer will be told to self-isolate for 14 days.
People contacted as part of the new NHS Test and Trace system must stay at home, Matt Hancock has said, while continuing to defend Dominic Cummings for “acting within the guidelines”.
If an person tests positive, NHS contact tracers or local public health teams will call, email or send a text asking them to share details of the people they have been in close contact with and places they have visited.
The team then emails or texts those close contacts, telling them they must stay home for 14 days even if they have no symptoms, to avoid unknowingly spreading the virus.
The Health Secretary said “the instructions are absolutely clear” and that, if told to do so by a tracer, it is very important that individuals self-isolate for 14 days.
His comments came amid mounting Tory anger over alleged lockdown breaches by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, whose actions the Health Secretary said he understood people disagreed with.
Hancock said he believes “the vast majority” will self-isolate voluntarily under the new system and that people will not receive penalties for failing to abide by the guidelines “in the first instance”, but he left open the possibility of making it mandatory for people to stay at home in the future.
Cummings controversy
Asked why people should follow the new guidelines in light of Cummings’s actions, Hancock said: “I think that the vast majority of people will understand that it is in everybody’s interest that those who are in higher risk follow the requests from the NHS, these instructions, and it is very important that they do.
And, frankly, this is about how, as a country, we get out of this lockdown in the safest possible way, short of having a vaccine or an effective treatment, which obviously we’re working on but we don’t yet have.
At least 38 Tories called for Cummings to quit or be sacked, but Hancock remained adamant that the Downing Street aide acted in line with the rules.
“I’ve said that I think that he was acting within the guidelines; I also understand why reasonable people might disagree with that,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Senior minister Penny Mordaunt admitted there were “inconsistencies” in Cummings’ account – saying “there is no doubt he took risks”.
Johnson continued to stand by his aide and insisted it was time to “move on” when he faced intense questioning over the issue in an appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee of senior MPs yesterday.
However, former home secretary Amber Rudd added her name to the list of prominent Tory figures saying Dominic Cummings should quit.
“Yes, I think he should quit, because he’s making things worse,” Rudd said on ITV’s Peston programme.
Rudd said that, through various Government campaigns, Johnson had seen Cummings as a “talisman, a lucky charm, and that he needs him going forward”.
“Dominic has been a winner for him on these campaigns but he’s not instrumental to good government,” she said.
And my problem at the moment is that Dominic is being negative for good government. He’s a public servant – it should be about service – and at the moment he is not helping this country.
The launch of the Test and Trace system comes as:
All non-essential shops in England can reopen from 15 June after they were closed under the imposed lockdown on 23 March.
Meanwhile, a test and trace system is also launching in Scotland, where an easing of the lockdown is expected later.
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The young prime minister Gabriel Attal has recognized the genuine grievances of French farmers, shared by farmers in several European countries. Too much unnecessary red tape (bureaucrats trying to intensify their power by imposing increased paperwork); too much blaming food producers for pollution; too much money required to stay in farming. In Brussels, Paris and Berlin there are 5-day civil servants; but there’s no such thing as a 5-day farmer.
@Garreth Byrne: all that red tape creates lots of civil service jobs,and their unsackable.
@jak: to keep your food and drink cheaper than it would be.
You sometimes get the distinct impression that some of Europe’s political elites really don’t have a clue about where the food they eat comes from and that real people called farmers work hard to make their livings producing and providing it. “Farmers, you say? Aren’t they the happy workers from the factories where they make the food that my staff purchase from those supermarket places?”
@William Tallon: That’s true, I know nothing about farming but I certainly have great respect for the work they do, hours they put in for little gain .
CANT BEAT Le Bleu farmers.Hope we fare better tonight.As a Munster supporter I want Pete to have a good beginning to 6 Nations Campaign.Without our Irish Farmers we gave no Country,the backbone of our Nation and prosperity.
No farmers no food is a myth in Ireland. Lots of our food is imported and lots of our meat is exported.
@Padraig O’Brien: Ok, If there was no farmers in the *whole world*, what would you live on? Furze bushes?
France 12 – 18 Ireland COYBIG
Are if there were no car makers there wouldn’t be cars etc.. We have produce food sustainably. Seen the iFA fella on prime time last night tyring to defend excessive use of nitrates. Time is now.
All I hear is farmers complaining they work hard and make no money…
I heard a good saying today” you don’t have to be smart to be a farmer, but don’t be stupid ”
Give up the farm if it is not viable, there’s plenty of jobs out there..
The farmers that really work hard and put in 10 plus hours a day are making money, because these are dairy farmers..there is no need for 95% of beef farmers to be home all day collecting subsidies and complaining about how it’s not enough..get a job
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