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Contact tracing delays affected eight local authorities in England in April and May
In parts of England, delays in tracing those who had contact with people who tested positive for the coronavirus may have contributed to the spread of the B.1.617.2 variant of the virus, according to local public health reports.
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The reports, seen by the BBC, suggest that failures in England’s NHS Test and Trace system in April and May affected eight local authorities in England, including Blackburn with Darwen, which has seen a recent surge in cases linked to the variant. The BBC reported that, although it is thought that people tested for the virus received their results, local authority staff weren’t provided with contact-tracing information through the central system. Other areas affected by this were Blackpool, York, Bath, North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
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Latest coronavirus news as of 4.30pm on 22 April
The 314,835 new cases reported by India on Thursday is the highest daily rate ever in any country
India reported 314,835 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily number reported by any country since the pandemic began. According to the
New York Times, the previous record was 300,669, reported by the US on 8 January. The true number of cases could be 20 to 30 times higher than the reported figures, meaning up to 9 million people are being infected in India every day. Last week, Gautam Menon at Ashoka University in India told