Covid: 16,000 coronavirus cases missing in daily statistics after IT error

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About 1, 000 coronaviruses have not been entered into the national computer system used for official statistics due to technical illnesses, according to Public Health England.

Some of the new cases that were reconsidered on Saturday were added to the 22,961 numbers on Sunday.

It said that in all cases, “their Covid-19 test results were normal.”

Hugh Pim, the BBC’s health editor, said this meant that those who tested positive had not been contacted.

Public Health England reported that cases were dropped from the daily report between 25 September and 2 October.

It further said that the IT problem has been resolved and now all the cases have been handed over to the examination and trace system.

Jonathan Ashworth, editor of Labor’s Shadow Health, said: “It’s shambly and people across the country are understandably concerned.

“(Health Secretary) Matt Hancock should come to the House of Commons on Monday to explain what has happened on Earth, what has affected our ability to keep the virus infected, and what he plans to do to determine the test and trace.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that it would be “hesitant at Christmas” and that the UK would deal with the coronavirus beyond that.

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, the prime minister said there was “hope” that Kovid would be beaten and called on the public to “act fearlessly but with common sense”.

At a time when reports of delays and the ongoing battle to take action to demand a trial are under intense scrutiny, the latest revelations for the Westminster government could not have come at any more awkward moment.

About 16,000 additional positive test results were not entered into the test and trace system, their recent contacts were not immediately followed.

Experts suggest that ideally contacts should be sought within 48 hours.

Officials say the technical problem, which is thought to be related to IT, has been resolved, adding a total of all new cases reported over the weekend.

However, these will rarely increase public confidence in England’s testing system.

Policymakers and officials frustrated the watershed as they tried to track down the spread of the virus, which the prime minister called a “critical moment.”

On Sunday, a note from the government’s Coronavirus Dashboard said: “There are 15,841 additional cases, with sample dates between September 25 and October 2, between 3 and 4 October release dates – therefore artificially higher for England and the UK.”

Michael Brody, interim chief executive of Public Health England, said a “technical issue” was identified in the David Load process on Friday night, October 2, which was transferred to the Covid-19 Positive Lab results report dashboard.

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“After a quick investigation, we found that 15,841 cases reported between September 25 and October 2 were not included in the Daily Covid-19 case. Most of these cases occurred in recent days,” he said.

“In each of these cases, their Covid-19 test results were found to be normal 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 transferred all outstanding cases to the NHS Tests and Trace Communication Tracing System immediately.

“This is a cause for concern as we fully understand and as a result more drastic measures have been taken,” he said.

Susan Hopkins, joint medical adviser at Test and Trace and Public Health England, added, “A public health risk assessment was performed to ensure that outstanding cases were prioritized for effective identification of contact.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health had earlier said that those who received the test results were not affected by the problem and that all those who tested positive were informed in the normal way.

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