Since the start of the lockdown we have called for contact tracing and widespread testing as the only means to establish the true prevalence of COVID-19. This is what the World Health Organisation urged all countries to do from the very beginning.
We welcome Matt Hancock’s announcement of testing for symptomatic key workers and their families, and the promise of contact tracing.
The fundamental principles of public health are finally being applied to the country’s most critical healthcare crisis. We congratulate the government on reaching this step. We should have been here weeks ago.
The government has acted far too slowly to change the fate of over 18,000 people who have already died. With each prevarication and each false promise an irreversible choice was made. When China, then Italy, then France were locking down, our government should have known what had to be done. But they waited.
In this ultimate test of the social contract, the livelihoods and lives of citizens depend upon the speed with which states act. Better late than never is simply inexcusable.
The next challenge will be logistical: the rapid recruitment and training of contact tracers, and the robust and reliable collection of data. We wait in hope that the government’s response will be swift and substantial. Anything less would be another great disservice to us all.
Doctors in Unite 