Pledge to meet 2000 contact-tracer target

A target of recruiting 2000 contact-tracers as part of the Scottish Government’s test and protect plan for coping with coronavirus when lockdown measures are lifted, will be met by the end of the month, even if they are not all needed, it was confirmed today.
The government has promised to meet its target of 2000 contact-tracers by the end of the month.The government has promised to meet its target of 2000 contact-tracers by the end of the month.
The government has promised to meet its target of 2000 contact-tracers by the end of the month.

Confusion about whether the government had ditched the 2000 target arose after Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, said last week that having 600 in place by the end of May would be “sufficient”.

However, today Nicola Sturgeon was adamant that the target would be met. At the daily government coronavirus briefing, she said: “We will have access to 2000 contact tracers by the end of the month, that’s what we’ve been working towards.

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“We do not think we will need all 2000 of those at the end of the month given the levels of the virus right now, but it’s really important we have the capacity in place and the ability to increase that capacity in future should we need it.

“I understand why people consider specific figures are important, but the most important thing here is to have capacity that is capable of being flexed and potentially increased in the future.”

Asked if “having access” meant the government would rely on contact-tracers from England to supplement the numbers, she said: “No. We will have the ability to have 2000 but we will probably not need them all.

“We’re not dropping that target, that’s still what we’re aiming for and are on track to do. Contact-tracers are there when someone comes forward with symptoms or tests positive, the contact-tracers trace those contacts, give advice about isolating and so on, so how many you require is dependent on the number of people who are getting the virus and coming forwards, and our assessment of the prevalence of the virus right now is we won’t need 2000 tracers, but we may in the future if the virus transmits more rapidly than it does right now.”

She added: “We’re trying to control a virus so the resource has to be flexible. It’s really important to bear in mind. It’s important to be held to account in reaching those numbers, but don’t get fixed on the number as there may be times when we need more than that in future, and times when we don’t need all the resources at our disposal.”

She said the government would be setting out more about the test and protect system later in the week.

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