Coronavirus news - live: UK launches test and trace system as NHS leader warns ‘very key bits’ not yet in place

Subscribe to Independent Premium.

The UK's test and trace system as been plunged into chaos upon launch with NHS staff unable to access the system.

Coronavirus test and trace system plunged into chaos as NHS staff unable to log in.

The launch of the government’s new coronavirus tracing programme has been hit by problems as NHS workers struggled to log into the computer system.

Several contact tracers told The Independent they could not access the website when it launched this morning, with staff left unable to work.

The new NHS Test and Trace system is being rolled out across England with the help of 25,000 contact tracers, with people who come into close contact with a coronavirus sufferer told to self-isolate for 14 days.

But the launch of the programme was plunged into chaos when some contact tracers were unable to log onto their systems.

One contact tracer, a senior NHS nurse, told The Independent they were booked to work from 8am to noon on Thursday but by 11.30am had still been unable to log in and neither had 14 of their colleagues they were speaking to.

The launch of test and trace today has also bolstered confidence that Scotland is ready to loosen restrictions, she added.

The UK's test and trace programme "won't be fully operational on a local level" until the end of the June, the scheme's leader is reported to have told MPs.

Hancock laughs off suggestion test and trace brought forward to distract from Cummings row.

Matt Hancock has laughed off the suggestion the government’s new test and trace system was brought forward to distract from the controversy over Dominic Cummings's lockdown-breaching drive to Durham.

The health secretary began chuckling during an interview on Sky News when host Kay Burley asked whether he had “rushed” today's launch to help push the saga surrounding Boris Johnson's key aide down the news agenda.

The country's coronavirus crisis response centre said the overall number of infections had risen by 8,371 to 379,051.

"The time has been short, but so far we have seen no evidence," Mika Salminen, director of health security at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, told a press conference this morning.

The UK has the highest coronavirus death rate in the world, according to Financial Times analysis of excess mortality figures.

The first minister will hold a virtual briefing at 12.30pm alongside her health secretary Jeane Freeman and Scotland's interim chief.

But the new spike in cases has prompted health officials to order major cities to return to social distancing, with some public spaces closed and employers told to implement flexible working plans.

People will have to self-isolate for 14 days on a number of occasions if told to do so by NHS tracers, the health secretary has stressed.

"If they are repeatedly in contact with positive cases then they repeatedly may have to self-isolate," Matt Hancock told BBC Radio 4's Today.

He told Sky News: "Employment law covers this and we changed the law a couple of months ago so that if you are instructed by the NHS for public health reasons to stay at home, then that is the equivalent in employment law to being ill, and it is very important that employers are flexible around this.".

And people who are confirmed as having had coronavirus will also have to self-isolate, Hancock told LBC: "Unfortunately, yes?

But people will not be penalised for failing to abide by test and trace instructions "in the first instance", Hancock added

The launch of the UK's test and trace system comes at an awkward time for the government, with ministers asking the public to isolate if necessary while defending Dominic Cummings for not doing the same

Appearing earlier on Sky News, Hancock was asked what people should do if they are told to self-isolate but have childcare issues - the excuse which Cummings has given for driving to Durham

The health secretary said: "Well, of course, it is very important that childcare is taken into account

'Very key bits' of test and trace system not yet working

There is "still a long way to go" before the UK has the "fit for purpose" test and trace system it needs, an NHS leader has warned

He added work to develop local test and trace plans to manage to risk of Covid-19 spreading at hotspots such as rail stations and places of worship only began last week and "will take several more weeks to complete"

We're in the process of building test and trace," he added

"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."

Start your Independent Premium subscription today

Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium

they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium

Independent Premium

Start your Independent Premium subscription today

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile