Government support for Dominic Cummings could undermine contact tracing, Labour's Jonathan Ashworth warns

The Government's efforts to control the spread of coronavirus by tracking each person's contacts could be undermined by its support for adviser Dominic Cummings, Jonathan Ashworth has warned.

The Labour shadow health secretary voiced support for NHS Test and Trace launched in England on Thursday morning as “the only way we can safely ease out of this lockdown”.

But he added that Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s support for Boris Johnson’s chief adviser could “undermine” public co-operation with the scheme.

Under the new system, people who come into close contact with a coronavirus sufferer will be told to self-isolate for 14 days, while an accompanying app is still delayed by several weeks.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Ashworth said: “We need everybody to co-operate with this because it’s in all of our interests that this works, and I’m sorry, I’ve got to say it, it’s why I think Matt Hancock’s support of Dominic Cummings is really irresponsible.

“My worry is some people will think ‘Why should I stay at home for two weeks on my own when I feel fine, while this guy who’s Boris Johnson’s big pal in Downing Street can get away with travelling across the country to Durham?'"

Mr Ashworth later told Sky News: "We need everybody to cooperate with [the contact tracing scheme] and I'm sorry to say this but it's hugely disappointing... that they back up Dominic Cummings."

The scheme will see 25,000 tracers tasked to call, email or text people who have tested positive for coronavirus to ask them for everyone with whom they have been in contact with.

The tracers will then contact all of those people and ask them to self-isolate for 14 days. There will be no fines initially for people who don't stick to the rules.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said on Wednesday that the system relied on "on people’s public spiritedness, on their willingness to cooperate and defeat the disease.”

His words were echoed by Mr Hancock, who told Brits that it is their "civic duty" to take part in the programme.

Mr Ashworth said the testing and tracing system is "absolutely vital" and said it was a mistake to halt the contact tracing programme on March 12.

He told Sky News: "Those countries which have been most successful in their response to this awful deadly horrific virus like Germany and Korea had invested early on in testing and tracing.

"We should have done that."

Mr Ashworth said that for the contact tracing system to work, testing would have to be done faster.

His comments followed a report from the Royal Society, which said the scheme could prevent up to 15 per cent of cases if testing was done fast enough.

Professor Anne Johnson, who helped write the report, said the system "is an important part in bringing the pandemic under control, but we're very clear it is not a magic bullet".

Mr Johnson said on Wednesday that the Government's target was to cut the time needed to provide testing results to 24 hours.

But Professor John Newton, who leads the UK's testing programme, said it would be "very difficult" to get home testing kit results in less than 48 hours.

The Government said earlier that the UK would have a "world class" tracing system in place by June 1.

But Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said that he was pleased that the claim had been watered down, "because we clearly don't."

"We're in the process of building test and trace," Mr Hopson told BBC Newsnight. "There will be a group of contact tracers who will be ready (Thursday) morning but there are still very key bits of test and trace that still need to be built."

This includes an accompanying app, which is delayed by several weeks.

The Government has been widely criticised for defending Dominic Cummings, after the Guardian and the Mirror revealed he possibly broke lockdown rules twice in March and April.

The Department of Health declined to comment.

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