Scottish Labour has warned that Test and Protect can’t keep up with the growing number of Covid cases.

Contact rates and times have declined over recent weeks as recorded cases increased to an all time high. On 28 June 3,285 new cases were recorded, the highest ever daily figure.

Test and Protect have struggled to keep up with this increase, with the proportion of test and protect cases closed within 24 hours halving from a peak of 80% in early April to 40% in June.

The most recent Covid-19 Statistical Report shows that a third of cases from that week hadn’t completed contact tracing by the time of publication.

Meanwhile, the contact rate for those travelling from abroad has plummeted after the Scottish Government failed to provide the resources needed to cope with the new “traffic light” travel system, increasing the risk of importation of new strains.

In the first week of May, before the new system came into place, 92% of those quarantining at home were contacted. By the second week of June this had fallen to just 43%.

Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said:

“Once again our test and protect system is reaching breaking point.

“Staff are working tirelessly to keep on top of the growing number of cases but the system simply cannot cope.

“It did not come as a surprise to anyone that cases would increase as restrictions lift. The government’s failure to prepare for this is a downright dereliction of duty.

“If only the SNP spent as much time trying to improve these dismal figures as they do deciding how to spin them. Having a robust test and protect system in place is how we contain the virus in the future.

“We urgently need to put the resources in place to make sure test and protect is able to cope and bring the spread of the virus under control.”