Boris: We'll Be World-Beaters At Track And Trace

Britain will have a “worldbeating” system for testing and tracing new coronavirus infections in place by the end of the month, Boris Johnson predicted yesterday.

- Macer Hall

Insisting preparations are on course for the national monitoring network needed to allow the easing of the national lockdown, the Prime Minister promised that an army of 25,000 contract tracers will be operational from June 1.

They will have the capability to track 10,000 new cases of the killer disease every day, he added.

He said: “This country is now testing more than virtually any other country in Europe.”

Targets

Mr Johnson announced the new targets in the Commons in response to Labour criticism of the Government’s coronavirus testing programme.

It follows a warning from deputy chief scientific officer Angela McLean earlier this week that the lockdown can only be safely lifted once a widespread test-and-trace system is operating.

In a clash at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson accused Sir Keir Starmer of being “negative” about the effort to get a grip on the disease. The Prime Minister told the Labour leader: “We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating,