Towards better contact-tracing in the UK

Abstract

As a second pandemic wave breaks over much of the world, the need for sustainable and effective test, trace, and isolate programmes is more pressing than ever. The study by Michelle Kendall and colleagues1 in The Lancet Digital Health is thus welcome and timely. This assessment of the effect of the pilot UK Test and Trace programme on the Isle of Wight provides indirect, yet convincing, evidence of success in reducing the effective reproduction number, and thereby the size of the first wave. However, it is unclear how the programme will fare when expanded to settings that are less ideal than the Isle of Wight, given its small population size and distinct natural boundaries. Adaptations might be needed to exploit ambitious targets for testing volumes set by the UK Government,2 and the success of the programme hinges on accessible testing to identify infections rapidly and allow tracing to occur before infected contacts infect others. More broadly, different approaches to test, trace, and isolate could underlie the marked differences in the impact of COVID-19 across different parts of the world.