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

"It is encouraging to see the number of positive cases of COVID-19 reduce by 28% this week, with just over 110,000 positive cases across the country.

"This has resulted in lower numbers transferred into the Test and Trace system this week, and with over 100,000 fewer close contacts to trace, the proportion of these able to be reached and told to self-isolate improved considerably. However 68,000 people were not reached by the system, and this must be addressed rapidly.

"Despite marginal improvements in Pillar 2 testing turnaround times, we are still far from a perfect system with some key routes remaining much too slow."