Responding to the latest Test and Trace data, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

“It is deeply worrying to see the numbers of positive cases of COVID-19 increase so significantly. They are three times higher compared to the end of August.

“With demand for tests rising, there is a negative knock on effect on turnaround times, with only about half of people getting a result back in 24 hours. In practical terms, this is impacting people’s ability to get back to work or school and wider public confidence in the system.

“However, on a slightly more positive note, the number of people who were transferred to the contact tracing system has increased by 37% this week.

“We all have a part to play in enabling Test and Trace to deliver. But we also need to see sustained improvement from NHS Test and Trace. We need to get to a point where it is easy to book and take a test locally with rapid results.

“This will become even more urgent as we head into winter, when there will be more demand due to colds and flus.

“We must see greater capacity, more testing sites, and quicker turnaround times, to help contain local outbreaks.”