Covid: 16,000 cases of coronavirus missing in daily statistics due to IT error

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Public Health England said that about 16,000 cases of coronavirus had not entered the national computer system used for official data due to technical glitches.

Some unreported cases were added again 12,872 new cases on Saturday And The figure is 22,961 on Sunday.

The PHE said all cases “received their Covid-19 test results as normal”.

But this means that it is too late to find the contacts who may be exposed to the virus.

The BBC’s health editor, Hugh Pim, said the daily figures for the weekend were “actually around 11,000” instead of around 7,000.

According to the PHE, daily reports were missing in the cases between September 25 and October 2.

However, it stressed that the IT problem has been resolved and all cases have now been handed over to the investigation and trace system.

Labor has called the street “symbolic.”

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Meanwhile, Kate Bingham, head of the government’s immunization task force, told the Financial Times that less than half of Britain’s population could be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“People under the age of 18 are not being vaccinated,” he said. “It’s just a vaccine for adults over the age of 50, focused on health workers, care home workers and vulnerable people.”

The previous prime minister was Boris Johnson Warned it could be “bumpy since Christmas” And even further as the UK is concerned with coronavirus.

Addressing the BBC’s Andrew Marmar, the prime minister said there was “hope” for Kovid to be beaten and called on people to “act fearlessly but with common sense”.

At a time when the investigation system has come under scrutiny after a system struggling to comply with delayed reports and demands, the latest revelation could not have come at any more strange time for the government in Westminster.

Because about 16,000 additional positive test results did not enter the test and trace system, their latest contacts were not immediately followed.

Experts recommend that the ideal contact be tracked within 48 hours.

Officials say the technical problem – which is believed to be related to IT – has been resolved, with all new cases added to the total number of couples reported over the weekend.

But all of this will hardly increase public confidence in the testing system in England.

And it is polluting the water for policymakers and officials trying to track the spread of the virus, which the Prime Minister has called a “critical moment.”

On Sunday, the government’s Coronavirus Dashboard said that as of 09:00 BST, 22,961 more confirmed cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 502,978.

A note on the dashboard states: “The October 3 and 4 publication cases include 15,841 additional cases with sample dates between September 15 and October 2 – so they are artificially high for the UK and UK. Are. “

Michael Brody, interim chief executive of Public Health England, said a “technical issue” was identified on the night of Friday, October 2, in the process of converting covid-19 positive lab results into dashboards. .

“After rapid investigation, we have identified that between September 25 and October 2, 15,841 cases were not included in the alleged daily Covid-19 cases. Most of these cases occurred in recent days.”

“Each of them received their normal Covid-19 test results as usual and all those who tested positive were advised to self-isolate.”

He said they worked with NHS tests and traces to resolve the issue quickly and immediately transferred all pending cases to the NHS test and trace contact tracing system.

“We fully understand the concerns that may have arisen and as a result, more drastic measures have been taken,” he said.

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Susan Hopkins, joint medical consultant at Test & Trace and Public Health England, added: “The public health risk assessment was done to ensure that pending cases were prioritized to effectively find contact.”

The PHE said NHS tests and traces have ensured that there are plenty of contact tracers working, and working with local teams to ensure they have immediate contact in all cases There are qualified resources to be eligible.

The number of call attempts is being increased from 10 to 96 hours.

Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow Health Secretary of Labor, said: “This is skeptical and people all over the country will be terrified.

“(Health Secretary) Matt Hancock should explain in a statement to the Commons on Monday what happened on Earth, what effect it has had on our ability to stop the virus, and what tests and traces they have used to correct it.” Is planning to do. “

Spokesman for the Department of Health Earlier, the issue did not affect test takers. And all those who tested positive were told in the usual way.

News of the daily disruption surfaced late Saturday when the UK announced more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time since mass testing began.

The government said the technical issue meant that some cases were not registered during the week at that time, so they were included in Saturday’s figures.

The daily total increased significantly from 4,044 on Monday to a high of 7,143 on Tuesday. However, the daily total remained stable over the next four days – between 6,914 and 7,108 – at a time when sustained growth could be expected.

Then came the big jump in numbers – the biggest day-to-day increase in the overall epidemic – announced on Saturday, five hours later than usual, with the government’s explanation.