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U.K. Sends Contact Tracers Door-to-Door to Track Spread of Virus

  • Government overhauls NHS Test and Trace service after problems
  • Local teams will seek out individuals at home, if necessary
A member of the U.K. armed forces takes a completed Covid-19 test from a driver at a mobile testing centre in Leicester, U.K., on June 29.

A member of the U.K. armed forces takes a completed Covid-19 test from a driver at a mobile testing centre in Leicester, U.K., on June 29.

Photographer: Darren Staples/Bloomberg
By

The U.K. government is overhauling England’s much-criticized program of testing and tracing the movements of coronavirus patients in an attempt to get a grip on the outbreak ahead of a potential surge in infections.

The centralized army of officials tasked with finding people who’ve come into contact with Covid-19 patients will be replaced by locally-based teams who can knock on doors in their neighborhoods, the government announced.